Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters
by Aoikami Sarah
Summary: Years later, the children of the Straw Hat Pirates set off on their own adventure, searching for the greatest treasure in the world! Part 4 of 4 in the saga!
1. Foreshadowing

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

Part 4 of 4 in a saga

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

_NOTE: This fanfiction is part of a saga. There are original characters that appear in this story that were developed in the first three stories in the series. It's not necessary, but if you prefer to read in order, please read "A Pirate Is A Pirate", "A Pirate's Life For Me - We Need A Musician!" and "The Pirate King Is Dead" before reading this. _

**Chapter One**

Bright yellow, sharply pointed leaves fell gracefully onto a wooden walkway. Five year old Tashiro no Taka stood and watched the path that led to her dojo home. "Okaa-chama," she called, turning her head of sea-green hair but not her eyes toward her mother. "Otou-chama is late."

"He's probably training somewhere. Don't worry. He won't miss dinner," her mother replied from the practice room behind her. She called out another command to the group of students she was teaching. Their voices answered "hai! Tashigi-sensei!" and she went to her daughter's side. "Why don't you go try to catch him by surprise?" Tashigi suggested with a sly grin.

"Ok!" the little girl called Taka chimed, ran into the dojo and collected a small, pink katana. "This time I'll really get him!" She ran down the path and disappeared into a swirl of colorful leaves.

She wasn't able to surprise her father as he headed home from training under a waterfall all day, but just being around him made the little girl completely happy. He was everything to her, not just father, not just sensei. Everything. When she woke the next morning and found he had left in the night, never to return, Tashiro no Taka was devastated.

Her mother was sullen and quiet, but tried to pretend as if nothing had changed. Taka did not weep. She never asked why. She trained and prepared herself for the day she would meet her father again.


	2. A Vulture Has Landed

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

Part 4 of 4 in a saga

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Two - A Vulture Has Landed**

**.X. Four Years Later .X.**

Just before lunchtime, Nami walked across Fuchsia's main street to Party's Bar. She entered, adjusted the bag on her shoulder and made her way across the floor. A few tables had diners, probably merchants by the look of them. Most people in Fuchsia didn't eat out. Nami noted with some amusement that the usual crowd of boozers was lined up at the bar, ready for their liquid lunch. She waited patiently for Makino to finish pouring another order.

"Good _morning_, Miss N!" Makino greeted her, stressing the 'morning' loudly in front of her alcoholic customers who grumbled in response.

"Good morning, Makino-san." Nami said cheerfully, pulled a sheet of paper out of her bag and handed it to the woman.

Makino took the paper. "Great!" she said, giving the forecast a quick glance. "Sunny and fair for three more days! Gonna rain this weekend, though, huh?"

"Definitely," Nami said with a wink. "I've also come here on an errand."

"What can I do ya for?"

"I need a bottle of rum…" she began.

Makino raised a brow. "Oh-ho! You and the Mister gonna party?"

Nami rolled her eyes. "Please. I'm making a cake."

The older woman laughed. "Just teasing. Dark or light?"

"Dark, please," Nami answered and the barkeep went in the back to get a bottle for her.

When she returned, Makino's smile vanished. The hair on the back of the two women's necks stood on end. A tall, dark stranger had seated himself very suddenly to Nami's left. He wore black from head to toe. His hat, which he didn't remove, was thin and wide-brimmed. What they could see of his old and wrinkled face was sallow and sharply pointed. The collar of his shirt and the lapels of his coat stood up almost covering his mouth and nose. His hair was long, straight and shockingly white. Nami couldn't think how she missed him when he came in, only that he had arrived with movements so stealthy that he seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"Can… can I help you?" Makino stuttered. She put Nami's bottle of rum on the bar. The stranger's small, bright blue, unblinking eyes followed her hand and slowly moved up to her face. Makino swallowed.

"Yes…" he drawled slowly. "I'm looking for the mayor…"

"You found her," Makino answered, attempting to regain her composure. "How can I help you?"

He looked her up and down. "I'm sorry... Perhaps the former mayor then? An older gentleman by the name of Bower…"

Makino sighed. "Oh, I'm sorry. He died two years ago."

The man in black didn't speak or move for a moment. Just when they thought they could stand the silence no longer he exhaled in a sort of groan. "That's too bad…" he hissed. "Did he have any family to survive him?"

"No… no sir. Not at all."

He hummed a long note. "Mmmmm… Where might he be buried?"

"Fuchsia has only one graveyard. If you go up Main Street for about a half mile you'll see a sign for it. It's on the right down the road a bit," Makino answered.

"I thank you," he said slowly and stood. Both women were shocked at his height and gaunt physique. He tipped his hat, smiled sickly, turned and seemed to float out of the bar.

"Boy, what a creepy guy." Makino rubbed her upper arms as if to ward off a chill. She expected a quip from her friend, but Nami was silent.

"Makino-san…" she said quietly. "A vulture has landed…" Her eyes stared out of the windows at the form of the man in black as he floated up Main Street and out of view.

Makino gasped. "You think he's a pirate!"

"Positive." She clenched her fists. "Luffy said anyone looking for him, Ace, Marina or Bower could be a threat. All these years without incident, why now?" Her face was ashen. "This guy's _really_ strong."

"It's ok," Makino comforted her. "That's why we planned this. I'll stay right here. Where are the kids?"

"Across the street at the sweets shop. Makino-san, this is pattern delta, I'll bring Chisa over in a moment." Nami gave Makino her instructions in code and started for the door.

"Nami-san, your rum!" the older woman advised. Nami nodded, grabbed the bottle and tried to look normal as she made her way across the wide main street.

In the sweets shop, a small black haired girl with pigtails made a face and looked from left to right and back again. An older, orange-haired boy held two lollipops in his fists, one red, one blue. "Come on, Chisa, cherry or raspberry. It's not trigonometry. Pick one."

"But I want _both_!" she whined.

"You have _one Berrie_. You'd need two to get both. Pick _one_," he said evenly, trying to keep his temper down.

"If Daddy were here, he'd let me have both!"

"Dad's at work. Pick one!"

Chisa pouted. "Jojo, you're mean!"

"That's life." Her brother shrugged and rolled his eyes. A solution seemed to present itself as his mother entered the shop. "Mom, tell Chisa she can only have one." The look on her face nearly made him drop the candy. "Mom?"

"A vulture has landed," she said quietly. Her face was white with fear. Chisa forgot all about the sweets and put her little hands to her mouth in alarm. She ran to her mother and clutched the hem of her skirt. "Jones, go ask your father what he wants from the butcher shop."

"Yes, Mother," he answered stiffly, carefully put the lollipops back and ran out of the shop as fast as he could.


	3. Way Cooler Than Monkey

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

Part 4 of 4 in a saga

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Three - Way Cooler Than Monkey**

Jones was used to running. He did it every day, whether he needed to be somewhere quickly or not. He hated wasting time just strolling along. Walking with his sister and mother earlier had taken a great deal of patience. Today, as he charged up the hill toward his country home, he felt like his body was leaden. "A vulture…" he said aloud. "And I thought they were makin' it up!" He was deep in thought about the threat against his family as he came up over the hill and had to skid to a stop before colliding with a man in his path.

"Sorry, Mister!" Jones shouted and started running around him. A sinking feeling shot through his little body as a hand like iron bones clamped down on his shoulder.

"Pardon me…" the tall stranger drawled. "Am I on the right path to the cemetery…?"

"Uh… yeah," Jones answered. "It's just up there on the right. There's a sign."

"Ah… I thank you. Tell me, Son…" he hissed, leaning down to get a better look at him. His breath was like the stench of a dead animal hidden in the bushes on a summer's day. Jones politely tried not to wretch. "Where are you going in such a hurry…?"

Jones's eyes widened involuntarily. He had been so distracted by the task at hand he didn't sense the danger oozing from the stranger before him. Thinking fast, Jones gave the rehearsed answer. "My mom asked me to ask my dad what he wanted from the butcher shop." The man in black paused again, but before he could speak Jones shouted, "sorry Mister, if I don't get back soon, my Mom's gonna kill me!" He was ad-libbing, but he was sure it would work with the rest of the script.

The iron bones let him go. The man in black smiled a yellow-toothed smile Jones could just see over the top of his collar. "Very well. Good luck, Son."

Jones bowed, turned and sprinted off for the countryside. He turned his head just enough to look back, but the man in black was gone. His heart hammered in his chest as he charged up the hill. "What a freaky old man!"

**.x.**

In the one and only graveyard in Fuchsia village, the man in black stood and looked down on one of the newer grave markers. The inscription read 'Bower, Mayor of Fuchsia and a good man.' The man in black scoffed. "A good man," he muttered slowly. "If they knew how many poor souls you and your Bully Stick sent to Davy Jones they wouldn't have written that." He sighed. "Ah, well. Another disappointment. Not many of us Lost Pirates left anymore, I suppose." He tipped his hat out of respect and looked to the left and right of the stone.

His blue eyes widened. "What's this…?" He floated over to the stone at his left. It was two decades old and bore the epitaph: 'here lies Marina – devoted mother'. The man in black's eyes lit up with amazement. "Mother!" he cried with a sort of throaty chuckle. He floated left quickly, paused and then drooped slightly. "Oh. Disappointment on disappointment." The stone next to Marina's read: 'In memory of Pirate King Monkey D. Luffy who was born here and executed in Rogue Town.'

The man in black let out a long, slow breath and tipped his hat again. "The Captain isn't going to like this," he muttered. "But at least I know more than I did before. Bower is dead, Marina-chan is dead and so is her unsurprisingly exceptional child." He looked back over his shoulder before floating out of the graveyard. "May you all be reunited in pirate-heaven."

**.x.**

In a Mikan grove of immense proportions, a single worker on a ladder sang to himself as he trimmed limbs. His song was off tempo and loud but catchy in a childish sort of way. He looked around to make sure he was alone before stretching his muscular arms to reach a distant branch. He giggled to himself like a kid who'd just pilfered the candy jar.

"Dad!" a shrill voice shouted as Jones sprinted toward the orchard.

"What! I wasn't stretching in public! I don't know what you're talking about!" former pirate king Monkey D. Luffy shouted as his arm snapped back to its normal proportion.

"Vulture!" Jones shouted as he skidded to a stop a few feet before his father. He leaned over with his hands on his knees and panted. He wasn't surprised to suddenly feel his father pick him up and run with him into the house. When they reached the attic, Luffy put Jones down.

"Your mom and Chisa ok!"

"Yeah. Went to Makino-baa's," he managed to say between breaths.

"You see the guy?"

"No. Mom was… Scared white," he panted, finally catching his breath. "Pale white."

Luffy narrowed his only eye and looked out of the little attic window at the walkway and road in front of the house he had grown up in. Everything seemed peaceful. "I never thought we'd actually have to do this," he said quietly. Jones bit his lip and stared at Luffy. The former pirate king smiled and tousled his son's hair. "But I'm glad you're ok. I'll feel better when Chisa and your mom get here, though."

"Dad," Jones said quietly. "If you're so strong, why are you so afraid of someone you haven't even seen?"

Luffy pouted. "The only thing I'm afraid for is your safety. If anyone finds out I'm alive, it could mean that you guys could get hurt, too. That's why I can't be seen using my Akuma no Mi ability," he said, stretching his arms out and wrapping them around his young son. "I won't endanger you. That's why we set up this emergency system. If the townspeople keep up their end and don't mention to strangers that I live here, and if we hide when we think there might be a pirate or marine looking for me, we can continue to live in peace for a long time." He rested his chin on the top of Jones' head. "If I have to fight for you, I will because you're my super cute son!" he chimed and gave the boy noogies.

"Ah, man, Dad, stop!" Jones whined.

To further distract him, Luffy changed the subject. "So," he asked surreptitiously, still holding his son close. "Your birthday's tomorrow! Have you picked out your name yet?"

Jones looked out of the window at the small, white clouds that moved across the sky. "I dunno. Can't think of anything good. Nothing goes with 'D. Jones'." Luffy's son was much more insightful than he had been at that age. "Dad," he began. Luffy knew that another tough question was coming. He wished even more that his wife would hurry back. "Why did you pick 'Monkey'?"

Luffy laughed. "I was so jealous that my brother got to pick his name when he was eight that I threw a tantrum until my mom let me pick mine. I was only five. You're old enough now. You should be able to pick something _way_ cooler than Monkey."

Jones stared at the sky. "Ok." Something moving outside the window caught his eye. "Ah! Mom's home!"

They looked down and saw Nami and Chisa coming up the walk. She waved to them and smiled, giving them the all-clear. The threat had passed.

**.x.**

After putting their children to bed, Luffy and Nami sat at the kitchen table and spoke in hushed tones about the scare. "He was… powerful." Nami said, rubbing her hands. "I don't think we'd ever run across him before."

"Get his name?"

She shook her head. "He was old. Rode-hard-and-put-up-wet old. Tall. _Strong_. That's what scared me."

Luffy nodded. He trusted her instincts. "The plan worked. He went away?"

"Makino-san said that he returned shortly after visiting the graveyard and went to the docks where he boarded a small ship and set sail, alone," she recounted.

Their son's voice from the stairs behind them startled them. "I saw him at the graveyard," Jones said quietly. "I didn't know he was a vulture. I'm sorry."

"Did he ask you anything about us?" Nami panicked but did her best to hide it from her son. Luffy narrowed his eye a little.

"Just where the graveyard was. I wouldna talked to him if I knew, honest."

"It's ok," Luffy reassured him. "He's gone. Go back to bed, Jojo."

Nami got up and walked him up the stairs. Luffy followed, putting out the light in the kitchen. "You've got a big day tomorrow," she reminded, doing her best to distract him. "You'll be eight when you wake up!"

He didn't respond. When they reached the door to the room he shared with his little sister, he turned and gave them a smile. "Want me to tell you my name now?"

Nami blinked at him and before she could answer, Luffy begged him to tell him. "Is it _way_ cooler than Monkey?" he asked.

His smile widened. "My name is Blue D. Jones!" he said confidently. His sister chuckled from inside the darkened room. "Night Mom, night Dad." He closed the door behind him.

Nami blinked and relaxed her shoulders. "Oh yeah, that's _waaaay_ cooler than Monkey," she muttered. Luffy laughed.


	4. The P Word

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

Part 4 of 4 in a saga

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Four - The P Word**

**.X. Five Years Later .X.**

A small ship docked along a sturdy pier in a bustling harbor on a large island called Fortuna on the Grand Line. The fishermen and longshoremen working the pier cast suspicious glances at the passengers as they disembarked. A stream of colorful looking characters filed up the dock. Each of them did their best to disguise their identities, but even with their affiliation tattoos hidden by jackets, the former White Beard pirates stood out. In the middle of the procession, Portgas D. Ace and his partner Vivace Rondo walked up the dock slowly. Vivace carried a large bag on her back and Ace lugged an impossibly heavy-looking wooden crate. Ace turned completely around and looked behind him. He stopped and sighed heavily. "Come on, Vane," he called.

"I'm not settin' foot on land!" a young boy shouted back defiantly. He stood with his legs spread and planted firmly on the little ship's deck. He was about twelve years old and had dark blond hair and tanned skin. He wore a pair of shorts and boots but bore no tattoos on his young skin.

Vivace stopped and put her hands on her hips. "Vane, do what your father says!" she scolded. "We decided…"

"_You_ decided!" their son shouted. "I never wanna touch land, ever! I'm a pirate!" He made a sour face and folded his arms tighter.

The workers and townspeople on the pier gasped. Whispers that the weird newcomers were actually pirates spread through the crowd. Ace grimaced, put the crate down and raced back down the dock toward the ship. He scooped the boy up under his arm and bolted for the shore. Flipping his son around, he deposited him on solid ground. "There," Ace said, dusting his hands off. "Please don't yell the 'P' word _out loud_! We have to live here, now. Normal folks usually don't cotton to people like us."

Vane stared at the ground as the other White Beard pirates filed around them. His shoulders shook. "I hate this," he muttered, trying not to show his father his tears. "I don't wanna live on land. It sucks."

Ace pouted and went to retrieve the crate. His mother crouched down and put her hand on his shoulder. "It sure does, kiddo."

"Why can't we keep being pir…" he caught himself. "I wanna go back. Calce's still gonna!"

"That was Calce's decision," Ace explained, carrying the crate again. "We decided to land-lub for a while. It'll be fine, Vane. You'll see."

"No it won't!" he protested. "If the Captain were still alive he'd keelhaul you for this!"

To his shock, his mother's palm struck his face with a resounding slap. Vane stared at her. "Edward D. Vane, don't you _dare_ talk about the Captain or your father that way again," she said gravely. "A good pirate always respects his superiors." She stood up and grabbed his hand. "Come on," she urged. "We're going."

Too shocked to argue, Vane let himself be pulled along up the street. Ace relaxed his shoulders and looked back out at the sea one more time. "Forgive him, Captain," he said quietly. "He misses you, terribly." He followed Vivace and a few other nakama as they filtered into the town. "We all do."

**.x.**

A few weeks later, Ace and Vivace had bought a little townhouse with what was left of their pirate booty and were attempting to settle in to civilian life. Vivace worked as a singer in one of the local clubs. Ace worked in construction. He was ever grateful that Fortuna's climate wasn't overly warm, as he had to wear at least a vest to cover his White Beard tattoo while he worked. Vane spent most of his time skipping school and hanging out by the docks. He was exceptionally strong for a twelve year old so he wormed his way into a part-time job there and did his best to hide it from his parents. Ace and Vivace were very aware of his actions, but decided that since the job made him happy, they'd let it slide.

As dinner time approached one evening and Vane got ready to get off shift, he put a palate of canned goods down and wiped his brow. "Good job, Eddy!" His supervisor said, slapping his back.

"My name is _Vane_!" the boy shouted. The men around him laughed. He grumbled as he clocked out and was about to head back up the pier when a large ship approached the harbor. His eyes widened with delight.

"Pirates!" Someone shouted.

"Those bastards, they better not start anything!" another longshoreman of substantial girth growled.

"Like they could!" yet another laughed.

Fortuna was well known to be abundant with strong men. There was little doubt that the pirates were only there for commerce and a good time. Vane stood on the dock and watched the ship arrive. It had three masts and its decks bustled with what must have been two hundred crewmen, all flashily dressed and excited to get a little well-deserved shore-leave.

"Alright, you bastards!" A squeaky voice bellowed. "24 hours, no more, no less! Anyone who gets arrested, it's your own ass!"

The pirates flooded the dock and swarmed around Vane who watched them go, balling his fists with anger.

"What's wrong with you, Shrimp?" the same voice, deeper now, asked as the Captain tried to get by. He stood in front of Vane with his arms crossed. "You gotta problem with pirates flashily comin' to your town?"

"Hell no!" Vane shouted. "I _am_ a pirate!"

The colorfully dressed pirate captain glared down at the boy. He wore a captain's coat and large hat through the corners of which his long blue hair sprouted. His large, bright red nose wrinkled up a bit before he burst out laughing.

"I _am_!" Vane insisted. "I was born n' raised on the strongest pirate ship on the Grand Line!"

"Sure you were, Shrimp," Buggy scoffed and pushed him aside. "Run home to your mommy before you get yourself killed."

His mates laughed and followed him up the pier and into town. Vane fumed, but held his tongue. He stared at the Buggy Pirate Crew Jolly Roger waving from the ship's main mast, turned and ran home.


	5. Cabin Boy Ed Divine

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

Part 4 of 4 in a saga

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Five - Cabin Boy Ed Divine**

Later that evening after dinner Ace and Vivace made sure Vane went to bed and headed into town. The most popular bar was packed full of rowdy pirates. The townsfolk kept their distance but knew that as much of pain as it was to have pirates causing a fuss, the money they would dump into the economy in a night would be more than worth the trouble.

Ace was relieved that nary a townie remained in the bar. He strode up to the largest table at which the captain was seated. Some of the crew stared him down, but his confident gaze and aura of strength allowed him and his partner to pass.

"Long time, no see, Captain Buggy," he said, taking off his hat and bowing to Buggy. He wasn't paying attention didn't notice Ace until he straightened back up.

"Force Captain Ace!" Buggy cried in delight. "Well I'll be damned! Pull up a chair!" He and Vivace were seated at the captain's table and treated like nakama. "I heard about White Beard. Damn shame. End of an era," Buggy said gravely.

"Bullshit," Ace said with a smile. "You're psyched to be closer to the top of the totem pole."

Buggy cackled. "You may be right, Ace! But I _am_ sorry for your loss. I know how much your captain meant to you. Now, who's this beauty on your arm?"

"Vivace Rondo," she introduced herself, shaking Buggy's hand across the table. He took it and kissed it, making her blush. "Mother of his child," she added sending Buggy into more fits of laughter.

"I think you might meet him if you haven't already," Ace said, accepting a bottle of rum that was handed to him. "You see, he's not exactly happy with living on land."

Buggy rubbed his chin. "Come to think of it there was this one pipsqueak on the pier earlier. Claimed he'd grown up on the greatest pirate ship on the Grand Line."

Vivace rolled her eyes and took her turn with the rum bottle. "That would be our kid."

"I've come to say hello," Ace said, leaning over to Buggy. "But also to ask you for a favor. If our son stows away on your ship, will you take him with you?"

Vivace choked on her shot. "What!" she cried and slammed the bottle down. "Portgas-san, what did you say!"

"He doesn't belong on land any more than a fish does," Ace continued ignoring her. "He grew up on White Beard's ship. He's adept with a sword and a gun and he's strong as hell."

"And he's _twelve years old!_" Vivace protested.

Buggy raised a brow. Ace scratched his head. "What's the difference between him being on White Beard's crew or on Buggy's? We didn't pamper him. Since he was little he's always been treated like a crewmember. He's got passion for the sea and discipline and loyalty that's stronger than most guys three times his age."

"That may be, but…" Vivace started to argue, but Ace's body was done for now. His head hit the table and he snored loudly. She sighed melodramatically and folded her arms.

Buggy laughed till he cried. "He's still got that problem, eh?" he said, recovering. "Listen, Sweetheart. Sounds like your kid's already an awesome pirate. What's the deal? Why not let him do what he wants?"

Vivace pouted. "Because…" she said, playing with the rum bottle. "He's my little boy."

Buggy made an exasperated face, but changed it quickly when she looked up. "I guess I can understand that," he said. "But my mom threw me out when I was old enough. I wouldn't be who I was today if she hadn't."

"That's not very consoling," she grumbled.

"If a boy wants to be a pirate and it's in his blood, there's not much you can do to stop him," Buggy advised. "You want him to be a hard-working land-lubbing mama's boy, or a pirate you can be proud of?"

Ace suddenly sat back up. "Well, Viva?" he asked.

Vivace furrowed her brows. She folded her arms tighter. She stared at the clown across from her. "Well, he's probably already stowed himself away on your ship while we were out. Take good care of him, alright?"

"Viva…" Ace smiled.

"If he's not cut out for it, I'll send him home to Mama," Buggy agreed with a sneer.

Vivace made a face. "I'm gonna miss that little bastard."

**.x.**

The following morning, Buggy was alerted to the stowaway. His crew was just about to toss him into the water when he demanded the boy be brought before him.

"Whaddaya got to say for yourself, Shrimp?" he said, detaching his right hand and lifting Vane off of the deck.

"My name's not Shrimp, it's Edward D. Vane!" he corrected him. Mohji's lion Richie licked his chops and chuckled. Vane was unmoved.

"Stowaways got two options," Buggy explained. "Fish-food, or Cabin-boy. I assure you, both are equally unpleasant."

"_Cabin-boy_!" he cried in disgust. "What_ever_! I want to be a _crewmember_!"

The crew laughed heartily at this. Buggy turned him around to face the others. "What do you say, men? Fish-food?"

"Let me go!" Vane shouted and pried Buggy's fingers open. He dropped to the deck and pulled a knife from his pocket. "Alright. Fine. I'll take Cabin-boy. You'll promote me in a month!" he yelled.

Buggy tried to remain serious and menacing, but he couldn't stop. He exploded with laughter. "Hahahahaha! You're on!" he put his hands on his hips. "Alright, you bastards," he addressed his crew. "Meet our new Cabin-boy, Ed Divine!"

"_My name is Vane_!" Vane shouted back, but the twelve-year-old's voice was lost in the cheers and laughter from the crew.


	6. Wacky Place Rogue Town

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

Part 4 of 4 in a saga

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Six - Wacky Place Rogue Town**

**.X. The Present .X.**

Rogue Town was as bustling and colorful as it ever was, even twenty years after the execution of the second Pirate King ended the Dai Kaizoku Jidai. Only a very few Pirates ducked from tavern to supplier, staying carefully under the Marine radar. The world was a much safer place since the World Government was toppled and reformed. Corruption had been washed away and a new era of peace prevailed, ushered in courtesy of the upheaval Monkey D. Luffy and his crew had wrought on the pillars of government.

Blue D. Jones had never been to Rogue Town before, but from listening to all the stories his parents told him, he felt like he had. His broad smile curled in excitement as the sturdy ship he sailed, The Ferris, docked at pier 34. The sea breeze tousled his wild, red hair. He wore a grey tee-shirt with the letters FMO and the image of a mikan orange on the front, a pair of well-worn black jeans and green sneakers. "Come on!" he called, wrapping a rope around a cleat to secure the ship. "Let's go!"

"Coming, coming," his best friend and owner of The Ferris, Iisopp answered, lashing down the sails. "The town's not going anywhere," he reminded him. Iisopp was a bit taller than Jones and had a darker complexion and stronger features. His hair was kinky, light brown and in tight dreadlocks that reached his shoulders. He wore a blue sweatshirt and green cargo pants with more pockets in them than seemed necessary.

"And neither are you. Put a fire under it!" Jones cried, bouncing in place.

Just to spite him, Iisopp slowed his movements. Jones growled, but knew he deserved the treatment. Iisopp slung a backpack over one shoulder and joined Jones at the gangplank.

"Not bringing The Book?" Jones asked.

"Nah. No one to show it to. Dad's gonna come up next month and shop it around to publishers himself."

"Alright!" Jones shouted. "We're so close to the Grand Line I can taste it!"

"Well, we'll need a few things before we can hit Reverse Mountain," Iisopp advised. He pulled a list out of the pocket of his hooded sweatshirt.

"Right. Let's go shopping!" Jones agreed, grinning wildly.

**.x.**

In the back room of a nautical supplier not a few blocks from pier 34, a tall, thin, older gentleman dressed all in black flicked on a single bare bulb and pointed to the wall opposite the door. "Put it right there, if you please," he directed and glided aside. Four men struggled in behind him with a large, beat-up wooden box covered in leather straps. They dropped it against the wall. It let out a resounding clang when it landed. "I asked you to be careful," the tall man said quietly.

The men blanched. One of them removed his hat and wrung it in his hands. "S-sorry Mr. McRae, it's just it's heavy as the devil!"

"Disappointing…" McRae drawled. The men flinched but he was distracted and didn't take action. "You lot have served your purpose. Be gone."

They didn't need to be told twice. The men fell over each other trying to get out of the door and up the narrow stairs. McRae floated to the doorway, turned and smiled a razor-sharp smile at the box against the wall "My apologies again," he addressed the box, bowing slightly. "I really didn't want to have to steal you. If James' widow had simply given you to me I wouldn't have had to be so rude." He straightened up and put out the light. "One down," he breathed. His voice lilted with a delighted chuckle. "Three pieces to go…!"

**.x.**

Iisopp emerged from the munitions shop across the street and looked around for Jones. He noticed a tall, creepy-looking man as he walked by, not only because his appearance stood out, but because he was laughing quietly and maniacally to himself as he went. "Weirdo," Iisopp muttered and shrugged. In stark contrast to the tall man's dark coat and hat, the next person to catch Iisopp's eye was a tall woman on the other side of the street wearing a white women's suit with knee-length skirt. Her hair was shockingly white and pulled back in a severe bun on the top of her head. A small white hat with small purple flowers was perched forward and a little to the right of the bun. She looked straight ahead and wore glasses that rested on the tip of her narrow nose and a Mona-Lisa-like smile on her lips. Iisopp stared at her as she passed, struck by her beauty and amazed as she got closer that she appeared to be a lot younger than her hair and style of dress let on.

"Wacky place, Rogue Town. What's next, a midget dressed in all red?" he muttered. "Now where'd that mikan-for-brains get himself to?" he wondered. As if in answer, he saw Jones' bright orange hair moving in a shop window a few doors down.

**.x.**

Iisopp entered the shop. The bell over the door chimed, but the place was empty. "Hello?" he called and almost had a heart attack as Jones' hand shot up and covered his mouth.

"Shhhhhhhh," he urged. "There's no one here."

"Then why do I have to be quiet?"

Jones grinned to split his face.

"Oh no," Iisopp moaned. "Nononono. We _just started_ this journey! You said you'd behave till we got to the Grand Line!"

"Oh, come on! It was calling out to me! 'Jojo! Come here!' it said."

"Don't you _dare_. We get busted for stealing while we're still in East Blue our folks'll find out and we'll _never_ see the Grand Line!"

"You are no fun." Jones pouted. "I wasn't going to rob this place."

"_Sure_ you weren't. You just said it was calling out to you!"

"It still is." Jones pointed in the direction of the basement. "I think it's coming from downstairs."

Iisopp tried to laugh. "You're serious."

"Yeah. I'm gonna check it out," he said and started down the short flight of stairs.

"Jojo!" Iisopp hissed. He looked behind him to check if anyone was looking or coming in. The shop seemed abandoned. He sighed heavily, shrugged and followed his friend downstairs.

**.x.**

In a tavern two blocks from the empty shop the woman in white was seated at a table and served a cup of coffee. She pulled a small book out of her bag and opened it to a place she had dog-eared.

A white-haired man seated at the table behind her sat up straight, pulled a cigar out of his jacket and lit it. "Any good news, Madame Curator?" he asked in a voice like rocks grinding against more rocks.

She sipped her coffee. "Perhaps," she answered. Their discussion was masked by the din of dozens of other patrons in conversation.

"Perhaps?" he asked. "Yes or no, please."

"Maybe."

"You know, you can be really irritating."

The woman referred to as 'Madame Curator' simply chuckled. "It's been nearly two months since last we saw each other, Vice Admiral. Forgive me for wanting to make small talk." He snarled softly, trying to contain his frustration. She smirked and sipped her coffee again.

"Is _it_ here?" The Vice Admiral asked.

"There are events playing out right now having to do with its current ownership, but yes, it is here."

He nearly dropped his cigar into his lap. "Then…!"

"Something important is about to happen," she urged, still not turning around. "Don't worry. I will not allow it to fall into the wrong hands, only the _right_ ones."

"Eh?" he asked. "What do you mean by that?" When he didn't get an answer he turned around to confront her. Only her finished coffee cup and a few Berrie to pay for it were left in her stead. "That woman…" he grumbled, the smoke curling around his face.


	7. It Belongs To It

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

Part 4 of 4 in a saga

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Seven - It Belongs To It**

Iisopp looked behind him as he made his way carefully down the short flight of stairs, afraid that they would be caught trespassing. His fears shifted when he entered the little basement room and saw his best friend touching a large wooden box. "Jojo, come on. This isn't a game!"

"Shhhh," he hissed and closed his eyes. "Ok. That was the plan, anyway," he said quietly with a sharp grin, opened his eyes and took his hand off of the box.

"Any minute now someone's gonna come in the shop and we're gonna get totally busted," Iisopp warned, very conscious of the fact that he was currently armed to the teeth with more than a dozen firearms and enough amo to shoot his way through more than a few platoons of Marines. His eyes popped with horror as Jones laced his arms through the box's leather straps and hefted it off the ground. "What are you doing!" he hissed.

"Saving it."

"_Stealing_ it!" Iisopp corrected.

"It's already stolen. I'm saving it. Come on. Let's go," Jones said plainly and made his way past Iisopp and up the stairs. Defeated, Iisopp muttered behind him about how they would be caught, thrown in jail and never see the Grand Line so long as they lived.

When they reached the top of the stairs they came face to face with the box's current owner. "Excuse me," McRae said in his typical über-polite yet totally unnerving tone. "I think that belongs to me."

"It belongs to _it_," Jones corrected. His eyes adjusted to the dim light and he gasped slightly as he recognized the 'vulture' who visited his village almost ten years before. Instinctively he grimaced and lunged at McRae. Iisopp stood in place, his face ashen with disbelief. McRae easily swept aside, sending Jones ass-over-teakettle, pinned to the floor by the box. When the old man turned to Iisopp, he was met by a pair of grey, 9mm handguns. Iisopp's hands were as steady as rock. He squinted at the enemy. "I'm sure this Mikan-headed moron will give you your box back if you let us go," he said to McRae calmly.

McRae's eyes moved slowly from the guns to the boy's face. "Well, aren't we prepared?" he commented. "I will have the box back, but I'm afraid you boys aren't going anywhere."

The killing intent emanating from McRae was palpable. Iisopp was a half a second away from squeezing the triggers when the old man's hat pushed down over his eyes and he toppled forward. Somehow, his shoelaces had been tied together. Iisopp blinked, but acted fast. He tried to pull the crate off of Jones, but it was far too heavy. He was even more surprised when Jones helped himself up.

They busted out of the store as fast as their feet would take them. Usually, Jones would have left Iisopp in the dust, but the box held him back. "What the heck happened back there?" he asked as they ran for the ship.

"I don't care, man. One second he was gonna kill me, next he was on the floor! I told you not to steal!"

"I didn't!" Jones protested again. "Wouldn't matter anyway, he's a pirate."

"How do you know that?"

"Because he's met me before, haven't you, boy?" McRae's voice seemed to appear before he did. He almost materialized in front of them on the nearly empty cobbled back street. They were struck immobile by the evil radiating from his gaunt frame.

"Who are you?" Jones shouted.

"Such a rude child," he drawled. "You should always introduce yourself first."

"My name is Blue D. Jones," he snarled. "Who the hell are you?"

Iisopp turned white again. "Ah! Jojo what are you thinking! Don't give out your full name!"

McRae scoffed. "Very well, Bloody Jones. I am Angus McRae of the Lost Pirate Crew. That box is very important to us. Return it, please."

"Uh-uh," Jones shook his head. "It's coming with us." Iisopp's 9mms were back out and Jones stood his ground, ready for whatever McRae would do. Before they could make the first move hands clamped down on they boys' mouths, eyes and clutched their arms and legs tightly. They squirmed as the sounds of a fight reached their ears. Less than a minute later, they were suddenly released.

"What the…?" Iisopp boggled. McRae was gone.

"Don't ask," Jones said, furrowing his brows. "Let's get to Reverse Mountain, now!"

Iisopp looked around them as they ran for the ship, but could find no sign of McRae or any of the people who had held them back.

**.x.**

Just before she was out of sight, the woman called Madame Curator stepped out of an alleyway and smiled. "Ah! It's her!" Iisopp spied her but didn't stop for fear McRae would surface again.

"_Who_ her?" Jones asked.

"This lady in white I saw earlier…" he said as they disappeared into the wharf district.

Madame Curator let out a sigh and leaned against the side of the building. "Good luck, young man of D," she said with a smile.

"Madame Curator," her superior's gruff voice called as he jogged toward her from further up the road. "Where is it?"

"It's safe, Vice Admiral Smoker..." she said in a breathy voice.

"That's not…" Smoker began to scold her vagueness again and realized she was only just able to stand. "What happened?" he asked, catching her in his arms as she crumpled. "Who did this to you?"

Madame Curator shuddered. "I believe he was one of the Lost Pirates. He got away, but I was able to save the piece."

"There's still one of that crew out there? And he's after… Shit," Smoker hissed, realizing how serious the situation had become. "Where is it now?"

"Safe," she repeated. "But those boys are going to need help."


	8. Why Am I Talking To A Box?

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

Part 4 of 4 in a saga

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Eight - Why Am I Talking To A Box?**

A small ship skippered by a lone teenage boy sailed into the south harbor of Fortuna Island. He wore a light, black cotton shirt unbuttoned and a pair of grey shorts with a red stripe down each leg. His muscled physique belied his age. The longshoremen watched him as he walked up the pier.

"Eddy!" a robust man covered in tattoos called out when he passed by. Vane stopped and turned his head. "It _is_ you! Damn, boy, you grown!"

A small crowd gathered around the teen, clapping him on the arm and asking how he'd been doing for the last four years. "Can't complain," he said with a smirk, avoiding the subject of piracy which was uncommon and even more shunned in the era of peace. "My folks still around?" he asked, coolly.

"Oh yeah, your mom's runnin' a gin-joint of her own these days and I think they live above it. Bar's called the Black Pearl," the tattooed man replied. Vane thanked him and wormed his way out of the crowd.

**.x.**

The Black Pearl was no bar. It was a three story stone building housing an inn, restaurant and music venue. Even in the middle of the afternoon, business was busy. Vane stood outside for a second and took a deep breath before entering. His parents were nowhere to be seen and none of the faces inside looked familiar. He slinked his way to the bathrooms and sneaked through a door marked 'private' behind which he found a staircase. It went up to the owner's apartment. He knocked before easily picking the lock and letting himself in.

Fresh flowers and exotic art prints decorated the space. The wall on the right was bare stone and the windows looked out onto the street. The furniture was Spartan but of good quality. The flat was tidy, but had evidence of both his mother and father's tastes sticking out here and there. A recent photo of them in front of the Black Pearl on its opening day stood on an end table. Vane picked this up and stared at it. He frowned and almost turned to leave but something startled him.

"Who's there!" he barked, raising his fists. The room was silent. "What?" he asked and spun around, looking for a source. In the corner of the living room, with a stack of coffee table books on top of it sat a large, wooden box - the same one Ace had brought with him when they left White Beard's ship. He knew it to house brass and silver tubes and leather bellows and other weird old-fashioned looking gadgets. It had been part of White Beard's medical apparatus - something to do with resuscitating the ailing pirate - and had for some unknown reason been handed down to his father on his captain's death.

Vane approached it slowly, his face screwed up with confusion. "Is someone inside the resuscitator?" he asked the box. He put his hand on its surface and his eyes widened. "Whoa. Seriously? But why me? Wait. Why am I talking to a box!"

The sound of footsteps coming up the stairs drew his attention away for a moment. "What! But…" Vane's head flicked from the door to the box and back again a few times. "Ok!" he grinned. "I didn't want to see them, anyway!" He threaded his arms through the leather straps and was surprised by its lightness. "Hang on. We're blending through!" Vane touched the stone wall to his left and his hand seemed to melt into the rock.

When Vivace and Ace entered the apartment, there were coffee table books strewn all over the floor and Vane and the box were gone.

"Damn it," she cursed and put her hands on her hips. "He's buggered off."

Ace shrugged. "It was nice of him to visit." Vivace smacked his arm.


	9. Rough Freaking Tale

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

Part 4 of 4 in a saga

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Nine - Rough Freaking Tale**

_Note: Rough Tale has also been Romanized more strictly as Laftel. I believe the katakana reads rafuteru which in my opinion works just as well written as Rough Tale. - aks_

Iisopp was surprised to feel the ship slow to a stop. He turned and saw Jones finish dumping the anchor over the side. "What are you doing!" he cried. "We have Mr. Creepypants hot on our heels, remember? First he pops outta nowhere then all of a sudden we have all these people grabbing us then poof they're gone!" he fretted. "I'd like to be as far away from that as possible, please?"

Jones jumped over the side and landed on the ground. He looked up where they had come from - the speeding current of Reverse Mountain - then back down along the shoreline. His face screwed up into a puzzled expression. "Iisopp! Consult _The Book_!"

"Are you even listening to me!"

"No," he answered and pointed to the spot where the current joined the sea. "How does the story go again? Shouldn't there be a whale here?"

"Oh right, Laboon…" Iisopp stopped panicking and jumped down after him. "According to The Book, there was a whale blocking the Going Merry. Luffy made a promise to return and fight the whale. He painted the Straw Hat Jolly Roger on its head," he recounted.

Jones dropped the arm that pointed at the spot. "So where's the whale?" The beach was quiet. The waves broke on the shore. There was no sign of any whale.

"Could it be…?" Iisopp wondered. "The stories… aren't… true?"

"Nah!" Jones cried. "I mean, come on! My dad's got the scars to prove most of it!"

"Yeah, you're right."

A female voice suggested, "Maybe the whale died?"

"Oh, that would be sad…" Jones said, rubbing his chin. Iisopp nodded. They both spun around and gawked at a stranger who seemed to have appeared behind them.

She was almost as tall as they were. Her clothes were a weird mix of function and fashion: tall, laced up black combat boots, tight shorts and a short, white wraparound shirt with a large, wide, lavender bow holding it together. Her hair was short and green and she had a single short-sword strapped to her back.

"Ah, crap! Mr. Creepypants must have found us!" Iisopp shouted.

"Are you with a tall, old, creepy guy!" Jones asked.

"I'm alone," she answered and raised a brow but paid little attention to the guns Iisopp had trained on her heart. "I'm sorry to interrupt you. I just wanted to ask if this island is Rough Tale?"

The boys blinked at her then shook their heads.

She blinked back. "No?"

"That's where we're headed, though!" Jones said with a wide smile.

"We are?" Iisopp asked. Jones nodded and he rolled his eyes and put his pistols away. "This isn't even an island, it's Cape Twins on the Red Line." The stranger blinked back at him. "The bottom of Reverse Mountain?" Still no reaction. "The _entrance_ to the Grand Line."

"_Entrance_?" she asked.

"Yep. We just got here!" Jones said with a grin.

"As in," she repeated as if she didn't speak the same language, "the beginning, _not_ the end?"

"Yes!" Iisopp groaned. "If you'll excuse us, we have to get going. Jojo, we gotta skate. Mr. Creepypants will be here soon and I'd like to make it to Drum _alive_, ya dig?"

"You have someone strong after you?" the stranger asked as Iisopp stalked toward their ship.

Jones nodded. "Old-timey-golden-age-of-piracy strong, probably."

"If you take me to Rough Tale with you," she said tapping her hand against the short sword. "I'll help you fight your Mr. Creepypants."

Jones grinned. "Are _you_ strong?"

"I'm a ninja," she answered flatly. "And I'm in need of a ship." She hooked her thumb in the direction of a small boat with a blue-and-white striped sail. As if on cue, the mast cracked in half and the sail drooped. "It's sort of on its last legs."

"_Sort of_!" Iisopp gawked. "Where did you come from?"

"Palast. Just northwest of Arabasta," she answered.

"Damn…" Jones marveled. That's far for a little boat like that." He put his hand out. "I'm Jones." He nodded to his best friend who was tapping his foot. "That's Iisopp. We're from East Blue."

She shook it. "I'm called Tashiro no Taka. What are you boys looking for at the end of the Grand Line?" she asked as she followed them aboard the Ferris.

"Yeah, Jojo, what _are_ we looking for? This is supposed to be a trip to Arabasta, not Rough-freaking-Tale!" He eyed his friend warily.

"Iisopp, my friend, we've got another mission, now." His eyes sparkled. "_Treasure_!"

Iisopp sighed heavily. He was used to Jones' ability to change his mind on a whim and didn't press the issue. Taka raised a brow, but said nothing. "How bout you, Taka? What are you looking for?" he asked.

"I must find and defeat a certain man."

"And he's on Rough Tale?" Jones asked, weighing anchor.

"I don't know. He's somewhere on the Grand Line," she replied and helped with the sails. "I'm going to either end to look for him."

"That narrows it down," Iisopp mumbled and the Ferris ambled out to sea and began its journey along the Grand Line.

**.x.**

When they were out of eyeshot of Cape Twins another ship bearing a black sail came barreling down Reverse Mountain. As if in slow motion, the aged whale with the faded mark of the Straw Hat Pirates on its head finally emerged and blocked the ship's path. The ship was summarily destroyed.

Standing on the shore, unharmed but definitely aggravated, McRae cursed under his breath. Laboon 'bo'd loudly as if to announce his victory over the small ship. McRae winced as a warbling sound emitted from his chest. He pulled a small Denden Mushi out of his coat pocket.

"Yes?" he asked, picking up the receiver.

"Report," the ragged voice on the other end demanded.

"We've hit a snag…" he said carefully.

"What snag?" The Denden Mushi glared at him.

"The piece I _acquired_ from James Aide has been… misappropriated."

The Denden Mushi frowned deeply. "Then re-misappropriate it! After forty years I am finally close to my goal. Do _not_ disappoint me."

"Yes, Captain," McRae answered and flinched again when the Denden Mushi went silent. "Those boys are as green as seaweed," he said to himself. "I'll follow the log pose and catch up to them in no time."


	10. I Know A Lot Of Things

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

Part 4 of 4 in a saga

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Ten - I Know A Lot Of Things**

_Note: I've taken liberties with the relations between certain dead characters. Forgive inaccuracies, please! - aks_

Madame Curator woke to the comforting smell of freshly brewed coffee coming from the mug on the table in front of her and the gentle sway of a sailing ship. More comforting was the sight of the man sitting in the chair on the other side of the table. "How're you feeling?" he asked, lighting the pair of cigars he had been munching on for the last half hour.

"Better. Just bruised, I think." She sat up and winced a little.

"Steady, now," Smoker advised. She rolled her eyes and smirked at him. The smoke curled around his head. "Be honest with me, Robin," he pleaded using her surrendered name. "Are we gonna need back-up?"

The woman who was once known as Nico Robin took a slow breath and pouted before answering. "No."

"Are you sure? If the Lost Pirates are after the same thing we are…"

Sitting back against the couch she had been laying on, Robin waved her hand dismissing his worries. "There can't be many of them left. Even Roger would be in his late seventies. Not many pirates live that long."

"McRae looks like he's about that old," Smoker argued.

"He is, I'm sure. He might have one or two other cohorts from the old crew, but I know for a fact that most of them are gone." Robin found her glasses on the table and attempted to primp herself. "Also, McRae was not one of Roger's inner-nakama, so I don't view him as much of a threat."

"Inner-nakama?" Smoker made a face. He knew he was in for one of his partner's long explanations. Although he was thankful for her knowledge, he was also very glad he had refilled his jacket full of cigars.

"Just as I am close to you but someone like Captain Koby is just an acquaintance who happens to work on the same side, if we were pirates, I would be in your inner-circle of nakama, Captain Koby would not."

"We're not pirates," Smoker grumbled. "But I see what you mean."

Robin finished her coffee and put the empty cup on the table. "There were supposedly only four members of Roger's inner-nakama: James Aide the poisoner, Richard Sairen the musician, Edward Newgate the first-mate and Albert Bolly the gunner."

"Newgate!" Smoker cried. "Whitebeard was Gol D. Roger's first-mate!"

Robin smirked. "Surprising, yes? He didn't go by White Beard until Roger broke the crew up before his execution. All of those men but Bolly are accounted for as deceased. Aide died most recently. On his deathbed he told his widow Red Molly the truth of his identity. Shortly afterward Molly got inebriated at the bar they owned together and told an entire room full of people the story. Aide had been using the box's strange science to distill a whisky so strong that no one had ever taken a full shot if it and remained conscious. Fortunately Captains Helmeppo and Koby were present and passed the information on to the World History Museum immediately. I think they can both attest to the power of this 'Black Lightning' liquor," Robin said with a knowing smile. "Unfortunately, someone also passed the information about Aide on to the only other person who'd know what he was _really_ hiding and McRae got to the prize before we did."

"But then these Rogue Town kids got to it before _we_ did," Smoker commented, ashing his cigars.

Robin grinned. "Not exactly."

"Robin…" he growled lightly.

She let a giggle escape. Teasing him was just too easy. "It's all according to plan. I tracked McRae to Rogue Town. When I arrived, I saw two young men docking to my left. One had red hair, the other had dreadlocks. They looked familiar and were headed in the same direction as I was. On a whim I followed them for a bit before locating McRae. McRae had stashed the stolen box in a shop's basement. Much to my surprise, the red-haired young man beat me to it."

"What?" Smoker asked as if he hadn't been paying attention until just now. "This kid was looking for it, too?"

"No. I believe _it_ was looking for the _kid_." That stumped him. Smoker folded his arms and stared at her. "The boxes are rumored to contain ancient devices of such intricate science that they defy explanation, perhaps powered by some ethereal power source not understood by this generation. They were collected by Gol D. Roger along his search for the True History. When he knew the end was coming he entrusted their care to four of his inner-nakama: Aide, Sairen, Newgate and Bolly. Unfortunately, I know nothing about Bolly, but if my hunch is correct, Newgate probably passed his down upon his death to his Second Force Captain, Portgas D. Ace. I know that Sairen gave his to his daughter and it's most likely still with her on Largo Atoll. Aide's box is now in the possession of the red-head who said something to his friend about the box 'calling out' to him."

Smoker boggled. "You know all this…?"

"I know a lot of things."

"Then why don't we just take them!"

"Because nothing is that simple," she explained with unending patience. "It took McRae 40 years to stumble upon one of the four pieces. I believe that Aide's box, having been stolen from its caretaker, somehow _called out_ to a familiar person. Each of these boxes resided with someone who was either one of the inner-nakama, descended from one, or descended from Roger until McRae stole Aide's."

"Then the red-haired kid is…"

"I'm almost one hundred percent certain he's the son of the second Pirate King and the Great Grandson of the first." Robin got up, letting Smoker take his time scraping his jaw off the floor. She went to a port hole and watched the waves. "And now he and Usopp's son are on the Grand Line. It won't be long before they put the rest of the pieces together."

Smoker let out a sigh, surrounding himself in a comfortable smoky haze. "And all we have to do is follow them."

"All we have to do is follow," she agreed. "And keep an eye on them. Like I said, we're not the one's who need back-up, Vice Admiral. They are."

* * *

_Hi, this is aoikami sarah, the author. Since I have a few folks who are nice enough to review, I'm going to be nice back. _

_ff dot net likes to strip code (like the ? marks before my ! marks in a piece of dialog that uses both which is perfectly acceptable why they take them out is beyond me/rant.) so I'll spell the site out for you:_

_Go __to - aksarah dot com slash onepiece for my fansite Fushigi na Shima which has original character profiles, more fic and fanart and goodstuff to enjoy! _

_Thanks! - aks_

_More to come!_


	11. Dr Sakura Hulgan

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

Part 4 of 4 in a saga

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Eleven - Dr. Sakura Hulgan**

Taka stretched out on the deck of the Ferris with her back against the Galley wall. Iisopp opened the door with his foot and handed her something edible.

"What's this?" she asked, taking it.

"Granola bar," he answered. "So, Jojo. How's the log pose looking?"

"Pointy and spherical at the same time," he answered cheekily and picked up a portfolio sitting on the ground next to his deck chair. "I'm not using it."

Taka stopped contemplating the strange foodstuff and narrowed her eyes at him. "You can't navigate the Grand Line without it." She held up her wrist to show him the one she wore.

"I know, but I've got maps," he said, flourishing a large, hand-drawn map of Drum Island. With his left hand he held up a small bag with something lumpy inside of it. "And when I was in Rogue Town I picked up a couple _eternal_ poses! I don't think Mr. Creepypants will have one of these," he explained and pulled out a pose marked 'Sakura.' "Or the notion to head there."

"Brilliant!" Iisopp cheered and tossed him a beer. He made a motion to do the same to Taka but she held her hand up.

"I don't drink, but thanks."

"Suit yourself," he said and sat down next to Jones. "Only one problem, Jojo. That pose says 'Sakura'."

Jones popped the top on his beer. "Yeah, the guy at the shop said that Drum changed its name like 15 years ago to Sakura."

"Ah!" Iisopp cried excitedly. "Right! Because of Dr. Hiruluck's Sakura snow! It's in the book!"

"Awesome!" Jones clinked his can against Iisopp's. "I hope you packed your woolies, Taka. Drum's a winter island."

She shrugged and settled in for a nap. "My home is an autumn island. I can handle a little cold."

**.X.**

In a large, stark room with a vaulted ceiling, the king of Sakura Island in his Bison form panted and charged once again at his opponent. The challenger was a bit taller than he, covered in brown fur and bearing a rack of large antlers that looked more like four giant hands. He wore a pair of blue shorts, but nothing else. As the Bison charged toward him, he lowered the rack and braced himself. Suddenly, with only feet to go, he leapt into the air. "Jumping point!" he cried and his body changed shape slightly, accentuating his legs for maximum distance. He cleared the charging Bison, flipped, landed on his feet and spun around quickly to face him again. The bison-king was ready and they locked hands, straining to push the other down.

"Gotcha," the much stronger king said with a grin.

"Not yet." He grinned back, "Horn point!" His massive horns grew to seven feet across and with a quick bow of his head he brought them down toward the king's head. Just before they would have cracked his skull, he stopped.

King Dalton looked up slowly at the horns and sighed. "Alright, alright. You win."

"Yeah!" his opponent cheered and shrank back down to his true form. The young man was tall, lanky and pale-skinned. He had light brown hair and sharp, blue eyes. He bowed to his king who laughed and clapped his arm as he too changed back.

"Good job, Sakura!" Dalton praised him. "That's the third time you've bested me today. I'm going to have to get serious with you next time."

Dr. Sakura Hulgan blushed and put his shirt, sweatpants and glasses back on. "Thank you, Your Highness. If you don't mind, I have an appointment in a half an hour."

"And a hard worker too!" King Dalton waved and Sakura bowed before he left the practice room.

**.x.**

After his appointments were over for the day, Sakura headed back to the chambers of the Surgeon General. Head Nurse Olga Hulgan was also just getting off shift. She emerged from her room having changed out of her uniform and seamlessly made the transition from caregiver to head-of-household. She stepped into her slippers, filled the kettle, put it on to boil and started making dinner without breaking stride.

"Good evening, Sakura!" she chimed.

The 23 year old accepted the mandatory kiss on the cheek before he sat down. "Hi, Mom. Where's the Doctor?" he asked. "I got something I wanna tell him," he said with a small smile, recalling his victory over Dalton earlier in the day.

Olga opened a tin of her favorite ginger biscuits. "Apparently he has some visitors. He's meeting with them in the North Parlor."

"I'm gonna go try and catch him!" Sakura said, jumping out of his chair and racing out the door.

"Sakura!" His mother began to scold him, but looked to the ginger biscuits and the water just starting to boil and decided she wouldn't mind some time to herself for once.


	12. The True History Of The Mugiwara

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

Part 4 of 4 in a saga

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Twelve - The True History Of The Mugiwara Kaizoku-dan**

The North Parlor was a popular place for the King to take special visitors for intimate meetings, a place better suited for conversation than the throne room. Today, Sakura Kingdom's Surgeon General sat on a chair facing the door. He stared hard at the three people before him: two boys, one with wild red hair and one with dreadlocks who sat in chairs and a young woman with green hair that leaned against the wall to the left of the door.

"Wow. I feel like I'm meeting a living myth - _Thee_ Dr. Tony Tony Chopper!" Iisopp commented as he hefted the great book onto the table. 'The Book' as Jones liked to call it was about two feet wide, three feet tall and two inches thick. It weighed about fifty pounds. Its binding was of handsome brown leather with a pressed design of a skull and cross bones wearing a straw hat picked out in gold on its cover. The pages too were edged in gold. The front cover and spine of the thing read "The True Story of the Mugiwara Kaizoku-dan". Nowhere on the outside of the book was an author's name.

"Who… who wrote this?"

Iisopp grinned proudly. "My dad, your nakama, Usopp." Chopper's jaw dropped.

"Doctor!" Sakura shouted as he burst into the room, his big news about defeating Dalton deflated by the serious look on his mentor's face.

Chopper blinked a few times, looked up at him quickly and waved. "Co… come in, Sakura." He stared at Iisopp. "Your dad is Usopp!"

Jones put a finger on his nose. "Hard to believe, ain't it?"

Iisopp held up a warning hand but let the comment slide. "Dr. Chopper, I have to ask, is this guy ok?" He motioned to the tall, gangly young man who had interrupted them and was now leaning against the wall opposite Taka, listening to what was a very secret story.

"Yes, this is my adopted son, Sakura Hulgan," Chopper explained. He eyed the green haired woman. "What about the scary ninja girl?"

Jones laughed till he practically cried. Taka made a face but only rolled her eyes. Iisopp pointed at her with his thumb. "This is Taka. We're taking her along for the ride and she's gonna help us…"

Iisopp jabbed him in the ribs. "She's traveling to the other end of the Grand Line and wants company. She's ok," he said quickly. If Chopper was anything like his father had said, he would panic if he heard that they already had a powerful enemy after them. "My name is Iisopp, and this Mikan-headed lunatic is Blue D. Jones."

"D!" Chopper exclaimed.

"I'm part Luffy and part Nami," Jones stated, puffing out his chest with pride.

"Eh!" Chopper cried.

Iisopp laughed. "Is that so hard to believe? Jojo and me, see, we just turned 17 recently. Our folks got together and decided to give us a really great present: we get to take this book my dad wrote to you here in Sakura and to Princess Vivi in Arabasta."

"And if we find any other of the six along the way," Jones added. "Like, say, on the way to Rough Tale," he muttered quickly. "We can give them copies, too."

Chopper regarded the book. "This is mine?"

"Yep," Iisopp said. "Dad autographed it and everything."

Chopper pulled the book toward him and opened the cover. "To Dr. Tony Tony Chopper - The Greatest Doctor In The World. Usopp." His eyes glistened with tears. "This is the best thing I've ever gotten _ever_!" he declared. He turned some of the pages. "Oh! There's pictures, too!" Inside, there were watercolor illustrations also by Usopp of some of the locations and people they had met along the way, each one carefully preserved with by sheet of velum.

"It's 99 true," Iisopp noted. "Dad had to change the end a bit. When you read it, you'll understand."

**.x.**

They spent the better part of an hour talking about the book. Mrs. Hulgan brought them tea and biscuits and was allowed to join the party. Iisopp made comments on the illustrations. Sakura watched and listened, enthralled by the strangers and the story he'd never heard before. There was a fantastic image, drawn and painted by Usopp of all seven of the Straw Hat pirates that once again brought tears to Choppers eyes. "I miss everyone. Luffy, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Zoro. I miss poor Robin," he said quietly. Taka straightened up a bit at the mention of the pirates' names, but no one seemed to notice. She stared at the illustration of all seven of the crew from where she sat. "I'm so glad that at least Luffy, Nami and Usopp are doing well."

"You haven't seen any of your other crewmates all these years?" Taka asked.

Chopper shook his head. "Not recently. I should find some time go to Arabasta again. It's been years and years. I'm just too busy here as the Surgeon General to get away. Maybe Vivi would know where to find the others."

"So where are you boys headed to now?" Olga asked, pouring Taka some more tea. The ninja made a face, realizing the woman mistook her for a male.

"Rough Tale!" Jones shouted.

Iisopp elbowed him. "Arabasta. We're taking Princess Vivi a copy."

"Please say hi to her for me," Chopper asked.

"Doctor, you know the Princess of Arabasta!" Sakura asked suddenly.

"Oh yeah, she was one our nakama for a while." He flipped the pages and showed him the chapter titled 'The Straw Hats vs. Baroque Works'. "This is the Vivi story." Sakura skimmed the chapters quickly, his eyes growing wider and wider with each word. When he came to the next chapter titled 'We Need A Musician!' his eyes seemed to bulge out of his head.

"Well, we really should get going. Taka's fallin' asleep," Jones jibed.

She frowned at him. "I am quite awake," she corrected.

"He's just being silly," Iisopp said, standing. "But he's right. We need to go. Our parents want us home as soon as possible. If this Mikan-head wants to go to Rough Tale, we gotta get a move on."

Suddenly Sakura closed the book. He had skimmed the entire thing in the span of ten minutes. "Take me with you," he said. "Please."

"Sakura…" Chopper wondered at his son. "But you've never even left the island before. The Grand Line is a totally scary place!"

"It sounds like fun," Sakura said. "Besides. If these guys are following in their parents' footsteps they need you represented." He looked to Jones, Iisopp and Taka. "I'm a doctor and I'm strong. I'm an Akuma no Mi user, Zoan type, model Caribou. I won't be a burden to you. Please take me with you, at least to Arabasta."

"Akuma no Mi!" Jones cried. "Uaaaa, I'm jealous!"

"Hell yeah, you can come!" Iisopp cheered. "That would be great!"

"But…!" Chopper looked very worried.

Olga put a hand on his shoulder. "Doctor, Sakura came in here to tell you something," she said with a smile. "He defeated His Highness in practice today, didn't you, Sakura?"

The young man nodded, blushing.

Chopper took a deep breath. "If that's what you really want, Sakura. I just…" Chopper looked at the book. "It's dangerous out there. Even now. There's plenty of dangers."

"I know, Doctor. I'll be careful," Sakura assured him with a goofy grin.

**.x.**

Everyone went down to the Ferris to send them off. Sakura hugged his mother and extended a hand to his adopted father. Suddenly, the small reindeer grew into his large form and hugged his son. Sakura had to transform himself to keep from being crushed. It was quite a sight: two deer-humans hugging. Jones marveled at Sakura's impressive antlers. "Let's go!" Iisopp called and the four of them boarded the ship.

_More to come..._


	13. Inconceivable

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

Part 4 of 4 in a saga

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Thirteen - Inconceivable**

Once they had weighed anchor and settled into the Eternal Pose's course for Arabasta, Iisopp broke out the beers again.

"So," Sakura began, accepting the bottle he was handed. "Jones is the captain and you're the first mate?" he asked.

"Nah," Jones said. "Iisopp owns the boat. He's the captain, I guess. I'm more like the navigator since I'm better at it than he is."

Sakura pushed his glasses up his nose. "That's weird. Since your father was the Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, you'd think you'd be the natural leader."

"You'd _think_." Iisopp rolled his eyes. "Hell, Chisa makes a better leader than Jojo does. She could run their whole Mikan orchard by herself!"

"Chisa?" Taka raised a brow.

"My little sister who Iisopp is in love with."

"Shut up!"

Jones laughed. "Besides that, Sakura, we're _not_ Pirates."

"No?"

"Nope." Jones grinned. "We're treasure hunters!"

Sakura grinned back. "Sounds just as fun and much less dangerous! Are you a treasure hunter, too, Taka?"

She ignored him. "Hey, guys," she said, staring at the horizon. "You said that Mr. Creepypants wouldn't think to follow us, right?"

"Right," Jones said, putting his hands confidently on his hips. "In order to follow our path he'd have to know ahead of time where we were going."

"Are you sure? There isn't any other way he could have followed?"

"I'm sure! It would be totally inconceivable." He made a face. "Why do you ask?"

Taka nodded her head toward the stern. "Well, I just looked behind us and there's a pirate ship on our tail."

The four crewmembers leapt to their feet and gawked at the small ship flying what looked like a pillowcase with a Jolly Roger bearing X's for eyes hastily drawn on it.

"Is it him!" Iisopp shouted.

Sakura grit his teeth. "Who!"

"Mr. Creepypants… Angus McRae of the Lost Pirates," Jones answered catching sight of the tall, slim, back-clothed figure standing on the stern.

"We gotta outrun him!" Iisopp panicked.

Taka stood and pulled the short sword from its hilt. "Che. That's what you hired me for, remember?" Jones grimaced. "Isn't it?"

"Yeah, but…" He squinted at the little ship as it drew closer to their larger, heavier vessel.

"What's that he's got with him? A young girl?" Sakura asked, squinting.

Iisopp pulled a 45 magnum with a sight attached to the barrel out of his sweatshirt. "Can't be…" he gasped. "Chisa!"

**.X. A few weeks before… .X.**

Just after Jones and Iisopp picked up Taka and headed out onto the Grand Line, McRae stood on the beach at Cape Twins and stewed. Laboon bo'd and splashed happily as the last bits of McRae's ship sank into the bay. Finally satisfied, the whale swam off to have a late-day snack. McRae contemplated his situation. Taka's derelict boat drifted to his left, forgotten on the waves, ready to sink at any minute. He breathed a long sigh and reached into his coat for his denden mushi. "Perhaps Bolly-sencho could send another one of us to pick me up…"

A loud call of "wahoo" broke his concentration. Someone else was shooting down the mountain. The little boat skidded out onto the ocean and its skipper cheered enthusiastically. "That was awesome!" A girl with black pigtails and a very short skirt danced around the small deck in victory.

"Excuse me!" McRae called out, waving his arms as quickly as he could but still rather slowly for a normal person. "Could you help a poor old man!"

The girl stopped dancing and with a twist of her body adjusted the rigging and artfully sailed the small ship toward the shore. "You shipwrecked, mister?"

"I certainly am, little lady. Would you be so kind as to allow me to sail with you to the next populated island?"

"Sure!" she beamed.

"You certainly seem to have control of this vessel. That's quite impressive for a child."

"I'm 15," she answered. "How old are you?"

McRae stared at her for a moment before laughing a hoarse sort of laugh. "Older than I care to think about. My name is Angus McRae. Thank you for your assistance," he said and sat down on the deck.

"I'm Chisa," she answered and set sail. Just as the ship turned about, Laboon returned.

"Bloody bothersome whale," McRae grumbled. "Careful Chisa, my dear. That whale is out to wreck us."

"He won't wreck _me_," Chisa said and ran to the bow. "Hey whale!" she cried. Laboon stopped his charge and stared down at the tiny ship. "I got a message for you! The guy who painted your head says he's sorry he couldn't fight you again. I'm gonna go get my brother. He's really strong and he'll fight you in that guy's place. We haven't forgotten you, ok?"

Laboon stared down on them. McRae held his breath. The whale seemed to have tears in his eyes as his head bobbed up and down in answer. He submerged and swam away.

"You really are an incredible child," McRae muttered.

"Thanks Gramps," Chisa grinned wide and they set off for the Grand Line. "Where to?"

"Well, where are you going?"

"Drum. I gotta catch my brother. Maybe you seen him? His hair's the color of mikan," she said, pointing at the design on her Tee-shirt which featured an orange colored fruit and the letters FMO in large print.

McRae gnashed his teeth and stood slowly. "I see. You're Bloody Jones' sister, aren't you…?"

"Yeah I… Bloody?" she asked. In a flash, McRae was behind her.

"We'll go find him together, shall we?"

She didn't have a chance to fight him.

_More to come..._


	14. She Left A Note

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

Part 4 of 4 in a saga

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Fourteen - She Left A Note**

"Let her go, McRae!" Jones shouted as the ship drew closer.

McRae had Chisa by the shoulders. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I can't do that unless you give me what you've taken from me."

Taka sheathed her sword. "You stole from him?"

"I didn't know it was his," Jones admitted. His eyes were locked on the approaching form of his younger sister.

"So give it back. Done. I don't need to get involved at all."

"I can't."

Sakura stepped forward. "I'm sure an arrangement can be reached?"

"Indeed," McRae purred. "You give me the box. I give you the girl."

"No can do."

"Jones!" Iisopp shouted. "What are you thinking!"

"Taka. Do what you gotta do. Just get my sister on board."

Taka nodded and strolled away in the opposite direction toward the cabins. "What are you doing!" Iisopp yelled her. "We gotta save Chisa!" Taka shrugged and closed the door behind her.

"Relax, my friend. Keep McRae's attention," Jones whispered.

He wasn't happy about it, but Iisopp complied. Sakura was a bit stunned at the pair of 45 magnums the young man withdrew from his sweatshirt. "Ok, Mr. Creepypants. Give Chisa back!"

Chisa's eyes darted to the left as she caught a flash of something streaking across the water. She repressed a grin.

"For the absolute last time I will repeat myself," McRae replied with a heavy sigh. "Give me the box and you may have the girl. She's really quite a pleasant person. I'd rather not kill her."

"Oh!" Chisa gasped and went limp. She crumpled to the deck and lay motionless.

"The poor thing," McRae groaned. "Look what's happened now, you horrible boys. Don't you have any respect for…" Before he could finish berating them, he lifted his arm to protect his face and it was studded with half a dozen shuriken. Taka ran so fast, she seemed to pop into existence in front of him - only inches from his face. "Surprise!" she said with wide grin and planted a blade between his ribs. The weapon went through his body. Horrified, Taka realized that she had stabbed an after image and the man had already escaped.

"Surprise, indeed," he purred.

Iisopp holstered his guns and clung to the rail. "Taka, behind you!" he shouted. The action was moving so quickly that he barely had time to get the warning out before the scene had changed again.

McRae had an old-fashioned pistol pointed at Taka's head. He pulled the trigger.

"No! Taka!" Sakura cried as she took the bullet to the face. She fell backwards and McRae smiled sickly. When her body hit the deck, it splintered - revealing that she had swapped herself out for a nearby barrel just before he fired.

"My, my," McRae mused. "You're a talented young woman as well." He expected another attack, but when it didn't come, he turned to see what the matter was. Chisa was conspicuously missing. "What!" he cried, his voice cracking.

"Yoo-hoo! Grampa!" Chisa called from the bow of the Ferris. "Fooled you!"

Taka stood beside her and sheathed her sword. "Iisopp. You're clear to take him out."

"Ii-chan!" Chisa cried, grabbing her friend's arm. "Please don't hurt him."

"Chisa, The guy's out to kill us!"

She was resolute. She pouted at him.

Jones knew his stubborn sister well. "She must have a good reason, Iisopp. Do you think you can take out his mast from here?" he asked.

The gunner grinned. "Not with what I got on me, but with this sucker…" he said and patted a cannon mounted to the right of the bow. He had a match lit and ready. "You bet!" Expertly, Iisopp aimed and fired, blowing the mast clean off of McRae's ship.

"Yay!" Chisa cheered, jumping into his arms. "You did it, Ii-chan!"

Jones frowned. "Weigh anchor! We're outta here!"

"Wait!" McRae cried. "Come back, you good-for-nothing rapscallions!"

"Swim for it if you want the box so bad!" Iisopp thumbed his nose at the villain as they sailed away. McRae stood where he was and soon, he and Chisa's ruined ship were lost in the distance.

Chisa stopped hugging Iisopp and opened her arms to her older brother. Jones simply folded his arms and glared at her. "What are you doing here?" he said coldly.

She pouted. "I got lonely."

"Chisa, Mom and Dad didn't want you to come with us. It's too dangerous."

"I can sail better'n you can! It's not fair!"

"That's not the point! Iisopp and I have permission. You do not. Do you know how pissed off Mom's gonna be! They're probably worried sick about you!"

"I left a note," Chisa said simply.

**.x.**

In East Blue a few weeks before, Nami called out for her daughter. She entered the kitchen to find her husband sitting at the table eating half of a pie. "Where's Chisa?" she asked. "I haven't seen her all day."

"Oh yeah. She went out," he said between bites. "She left a note."

"Eh?" Nami asked, taking the piece of paper he handed to her.

'_Mom and Dad. I went to find Nii-chan and Ii-chan. Don't be mad. Love, Chisa.'_

She crumpled it and glared at her husband. A vein on her forehead popped out.

"What?" Luffy asked innocently.

**.x.**

Jones hung his head. "We are so dead."

Sakura looked worried. "Taka, what was this Mr. Creepypants McRae like? He seemed to have similar skills."

"He's good," she said raising her arm. "Almost got me." There was a good quarter inch of flesh grazed off of her right bicep where McRae's bullet had almost missed her. Sakura boggled, pulled a first aid kit out of nowhere and went to work on her. "I've trained in ninjutsu for a dozen years. He's not a ninja."

"Then what is he?" Iisopp asked.

"He's an Akuma no Mi user," Chisa said plainly. "Koso Koso no Mi. Makes him super sneaky." Everyone stared blankly at the newcomer. "What? I was on the boat with him for like a week!"

_More to come..._


	15. Hook Line And Sinker

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

Part 4 of 4 in a saga

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Fifteen - Hook Line And Sinker**

By following his logue pose and the hints he got from the respirator, Edward D. Vane was also making his way toward the fabled end of the Grand Line - the mysterious island of Rough Tale that no one since Gol D. Roger had visited.

As dawn broke, his small, one-man ship The Emerald was boarded. Vane dozed against the mast as three men leapt carefully from their vessel to his.

"This is too easy," one of the men remarked as he lunged at the sleeping form with his knife. He was fairly surprised when the blade he was sure he aimed for the young man's heart glanced off of it with a grinding sort of sound. "What the…?" one of the attacker's nakama took a step back as Vane's eyes snapped open.

"Surprise. I was awake." He grasped the attacker's arm and held it fast in a grip like iron. The other two thought it best to lend their strength to their partner and drew medium-caliber hand guns. Each man emptied their clips at Vane who only grinned wider. Held in place, the first man was riddled with ricochets. Vane stood and dropped his corpse to the ground. "Surprise _again_. I'm invincible."

The two remaining attackers panicked and turned to flee. He only let one escape. The other he grasped by the neck with his right hand and held him fast. "You're not going anywhere until I get some answers. And you…" he said to the man who had reached his ship tethered to The Emerald and was trying to untie it as fast as he could. "…Are going to Davy Jones' Locker." Vane placed his left hand on the lip of their ship. "Hook, line..." The wood crackled and turned grey. In a matter of seconds the vessel and its passenger had been turned to stone. "…And _sinker_," he said darkly and brought his left fist down on the lip. It shattered and sank into the sea.

"What… whatn the hell are you?" the attacker managed to gasp.

"Akuma no Mi user, Iwa Iwa no Mi," he replied. Vane picked up the first man's body with his free hand, turned it to stone and tossed it idly into the water. "Now," he said coolly, confidently releasing the remaining man. "Since I've told you my secret, you're going to tell me what you were thinking attacking me like that."

"It's just a job," he said quickly, terror painted across his face. "This old broad Williams she hired us to git your cargo. That's all I know!"

"Williams?" Vane wondered, sitting back against the mast again. "Got a first name?"

"Vaughn. Vaughn Williams. Old lady. Purple hair what's gone grey. Hunched over, fat."

"More, please," Vane asked.

"Ah…" he thought hard. "She had glasses! And I'm sure she were a pirate 'cause she talked like one."

"_She talked like one_…" Vane muttered rolling his eyes. "Why'd she want my cargo?"

"She said she jus' wanted the box. That's all I know, seriously kid. I don't know no more."

Vane stood again and the man who was twice his age and more than a foot taller fell down in fear. "Thanks. If I see this Williams woman I'll be sure to tell her how helpful you were."

_More to come..._


	16. The Greatest Treasure In The World

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

Part 4 of 4 in a saga

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Sixteen - The Greatest Treasure In The World**

Chisa fit easily into a groove on board the Ferris being a 'better sailor than her brother'. No one thought this was truer than Iisopp who followed his childhood friend around like a puppy. Jones watched this display as he leaned against the side one cloudy afternoon. Taka finished coiling some rope and followed Jones' eyes. "Lemme guess," she said putting her hands on her hips. "You don't approve."

He blinked at her before he understood what she was talking about. "What? Of Iisopp? Psh. Doesn't matter to me."

"Then what's with the look of death?"

Jones pushed away from the side and headed toward the bow. Taka followed. "It's not that. It's that she's here. I know Iisopp can handle himself. He's been trained by his father and grandfather for years and is like the best shot in the world. Chisa's not strong. She's not very smart and she's my sister. I didn't want her to come along. I didn't want to have to protect her and now that we're being chased by this McRae guy she's already had to be rescued!" He stopped in front of the large abstract figurehead that looked a bit like a dragon and a bit like a horse. No one was quite sure what Ferris had meant to create when he designed the ship. He might have been a good engineer but he was a lousy artist.

"I guess that makes sense," Taka said shrugging. Jones shot her a look. "What? I can't relate because I'm an only child. I've never had to protect anyone before."

Jones frowned and was about to say something he probably shouldn't have to a ninja about responsibility when he thrust his arm out toward the horizon. "Land ho!" he cried.

Arabasta was just a dot, but the eternal pose was pointing directly at it. Jones folded his arms and grinned. One of his goals was being met - to visit the places his parents had told him stories about all his life. He couldn't wait to meet the princess and see the desert and the weird creatures the Straw Hat pirates had seen.

"We should reach land in about three hours," he said, handing the telescope he had pulled out of his pocket to Taka. She made to take it and almost dropped it.

"Jones, be careful," she advised him. His arms had fallen slack and he stared blankly out at the horizon as if looking much further past the island into the distance. "Oi, Jones?" she asked again more urgently.

**.X.**

Jones saw his father. His mouth moved but any dialog was masked by a whirling sound like the wind changing direction and cutting across a sail. Luffy was showing Nami his straw hat. He looked young, perhaps Jones' age. He spun around and suddenly he was a child who ran up the dirt road his house, past his nagging older brother and into his mother's arms. The red-haired woman picked him up and hugged him. She then spun around and her appearance changed as well. She was young, perhaps no more than 12 or 13. She ran down a small lane after another, slightly older girl with magenta colored hair who seemed to be teasing her. The girl laughed and reached the house first, gloating at Luffy's future mother before opening the door and entering.

The white noise that obscured their voices died as the door was closed and Jones could see and hear a scene playing out as if he were a fly on the wall. A woman, the girls' mother stood in the living room with her hands in tight fists. She wore a marine uniform, loosened slightly as if she had only just arrived home from work. A large, dark-haired man wearing a large coat and large hat in his hands stood on the other side of the room and a young boy stood at his side. The boy was lanky and had sharp, black eyes that didn't seem to blink as much as they ought to. His soft smile was totally disarming and the way he held his shoulders gave the impression that nothing going on in the room was upsetting him in the slightest.

"Belle-mere, Marina. Go upstairs," the woman ordered her daughters.

"Mom?" Belle-mere asked, startled.

"_Upstairs_."

The man looked disappointed but not upset. "Oceana, I only wanted to…"

"No," Oceana insisted. "You will not have any influence over my girls. They're wild enough without your putting crazy dreams in their heads!"

Both girls took offence to this and set their jaws.

"Which one of you is Marina?" the boy asked, ignoring the irate woman before him.

Belle-mere shot her sister a concerned look. "I am," Marina said, her eyes locked on the boy's.

"My name is Vincent. I'm your brother and this is your father. We're pirates."

"You…!" Oceana fretted. The cat was out of the bag. "Upstairs! Now!" she shouted at her girls.

Marina blinked a few times. Her sister's hand clamped down on her arm. Marina looked up, surprised to see Belle-mere giving the men across from her a dark look. "Come on, Marina. Let's do what Mom wants for now."

In a daze, Marina let her sister lead her away.

**.x.**

Jones' perspective shifted upstairs to the girls' room and now it was night. Belle-mere sat on her bed and glowered at Marina. "I'll scream," she said quietly.

"No you won't," Marina argued while she packed a small bag with a few of her things.

"I'll tell Mom."

"Go ahead. She kept the truth about my father from me."

"So that makes it ok for you to run away?"

"I'm not running away," Marina corrected her. "I'm running _toward_. This is my destiny. I was born to be a pirate. You're just jealous because you were born to be a marine."

"I was born to be whatever I want. Screw destiny."

"Whatever," Marina said coldly. Her back was still turned.

Belle-mere made a sour face. "Fine. Go. You know, it makes sense. You're not my _real_ sister after all."

Marina stopped in front of the first-story window she was about to defenestrate from. "That's right. We have the same mother, but my father is going to be the king of all pirates and your father… oh, that's right. You don't know who your father is."

Belle-mere took a deep breath and filled her lungs with as much air as she could. Marina hopped up onto the window sill and before Belle-mere could scream to alert their mother a gust of wind blew the hurricane lamp in their bedroom out. It was so strong that it knocked Belle-mere against the wall. It also pulled Marina from the window out into the night. Rather than crashing to the ground, she landed gently on her feet. When she looked up her brother Vincent was standing in front of her in the dim street light. He extended his hand to her and together they ran to the ship that was waiting to take her away.

**.X.**

"Nii-chan!" Chisa shook Jones' shoulders. He blinked and squinted before his eyes focused on her.

"What?"

"_What!_ You were totally spacing out!"

"Oh, sorry. I…" He pursed his lips. "I gotta go inside for a second."

Chisa looked confused when Iisopp arrived on the bow to see Arabasta for himself.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I dunno. Taka said that Nii-chan sort of blanked out for a second like he was thinking really hard." Chisa pouted.

Iisopp frowned, unable to come up with something to reassure her with.

**.x.**

Inside the men's sleeping quarters tucked safely into a corner stood the box Jones stole from McRae. The young man stood still for a moment before sitting down on the floor in front of it.

"What was that all about?" he asked it quietly. "That was your doing, wasn't it?" Jones furrowed his brows. "I saw my dad and his mom's sister was my mother's adoptive mother! What do you mean, that's not the point? Then why bother showing something like that to me!" he shouted. His back straightened. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell. Of course I'm still taking you there, it's part of my plan."

"Just what is your plan, Nii-chan?" a timid voice asked from behind.

"Chisa!" he cried.

"You can talk to it?" she asked, seating herself next to him.

"Uh, yeah. I can," he answered slowly. "Iisopp thinks I'm nuts."

"No he doesn't," she said. "What did it say?"

"I think that it wants to go to Rough Tale and that it'll reward me with the greatest treasure in the world, but I don't really get words, just impressions of things, images, feelings… Like if it meant to say 'I want a Mikan' it might show me someone enjoying a Mikan, or an image of just the fruit and the feeling of hunger."

"Weird…" Chisa stared at the box. "How come you're the only one who can hear it?"

"I dunno. I guess because I saved it and it likes me?" He stared at it as well.

"Is it good?"

"Huh?"

"You know, like those movies with the evil things that make people do things. Is it good or evil?"

"Good. Definitely." Jones laughed.

"What?"

"He just said something funny about how he's a good guy. It's hard to explain."

"So it's a 'he'?"

"I think so. I think…" Jones stopped himself and nodded. "I feel like I know the guy!" he stood up, smiled down at his sister and gave her a hand.

**.x.**

Jones stood on the balcony and looked down on the deck. "Hey, guys. We're going to Rough Tale. I wanna make sure that's ok with everyone."

"As long as we go to Arabasta first!" Sakura shouted back.

"Yep. And if we get leads from Vivi about where the others are we'll go there, too. I just want to make sure you all know what I'm up to."

Iisopp folded his arms. "And just what is that, Jojo?"

"To find the greatest treasure on earth! One Piece!"

Sakura, Taka and Iisopp stared at him. Chisa's eyes sparkled. "My Nii-chan is so cool!"

Taka shrugged. "Sounds good to me."

Iisopp gave a long sigh. "As long as you don't go wanting to be the third King of all Pirates…"

"I told you…" Jones said, putting his hands on his hips. "We're not pirates – we're treasure hunters!"

_More to come..._


	17. Angels Don’t Fall In Love

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

Part 4 of 4 in a saga

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Seventeen - Angels Don't Fall In Love**

They made their way up the inlet and harbored at Arubarna without incident. All five members disembarked and headed for the Royal Palace to deliver a copy of The Book to Princess Vivi and hopefully get more information about the rest of the Strawhats whereabouts.

Not but 500 feet from the harbor Sakura stood motionless as the rest of the crew filed past him. Iisopp hiked The Books' straps up higher. "Come on, Sakura," he said. "Palace's this way."

"Oh… My…" the doctor said slowly. "I don't believe it!"

"What's up, Doc?" Chisa asked, turning around and blinking at the young man. He was staring slack jawed at the side of a building. It was a sort of bulletin board with fliers and notices tacked to it. The largest of these was a two-color poster featuring a blond girl with a microphone. The top of the poster read 'Chanson'.

"I don't believe it!" he repeated. "Chan-chan is singing _tonight_!"

"Chan-chan?" Iisopp raised a brow and leaned on the wall to relieve his burden. "What's that?"

Sakura looked as if he'd been shot. "What! You've never heard of Chan-chan!"

Taka yawned. "They're from East Blue, Sakura. Chanson's probably never been out there."

Sakura ignored her. "She's only the biggest pop star on the Grand Line! I own all her albums! I've got to see her!"

"Aw," Chisa said sadly. "Sold out."

Sakura went white. "Sold… out?"

"That's what it says," Jones confirmed. "Oh well. Let's get going."

They moved along, but Sakura remained frozen, weeping at the sticker that read 'sold out' over the bottom right of the poster. Taka shrugged and made to follow, but her arm was held fast in Sakura's grip. "Please, ninja-girl," he begged, tears like rivers down his cheeks. "You gotta sneak me into this concert!"

"What!" Taka grimaced. "Are you crazy?"

"I am. For Chanson!"

"Jones," she called. "Little help? The doctor has lost his mind."

Jones walked back to the poster, watched Sakura weep, observed the poster, looked back to his crewmates then up to the distant spires of the palace. "Says the show's at the Palace. We gotta go there anyway. Let's see if we can get in."

"Thank you!" Sakura cried and hugged Jones who laughed and patted him on the back.

"Who would have thought the oldest one here was a raging fanboy?" Taka grumbled as she followed them up the street toward the Palace.

**.x. **

Chanson's concert was held in the large amphitheater just south of and adjacent to the royal palace. The show was sold out, but it didn't take much for the young woman who'd trained as a ninja for a dozen years to sneak her crewmates past concert security. They followed her lead and were soon quite lost in the maze of backstage hallways. Sakura tapped his foot nervously as they tried to ascertain where they were.

"That's 'Angels Don't Fall In Love'!" he cried, listening to the beat pulse through the ceiling.

Chisa marveled at him. "You can tell what it is from 'thump thump thump'?"

"I am her biggest fan," he replied gravely.

Iisopp put The Book on the floor for a quick rest as Jones went to peek around a corner. "Ok, you being a fanboy I could handle. A scary stalker boy is another thing!"

"I'm not a stalker. I'm the president of the UCF." Iisopp shook his head at him as if to say 'you lost me'. "The United Chanson Fandom," Sakura explained.

"Oy vey," Iisopp muttered.

Jones stuck his head around the corner. "This way," he beckoned and they headed down the hall.

The 'thump thump' began to take more form and volume and soon they could hear a soulful, fairly deep female voice singing above the pulsing bass.

_"Well, I can see it when I look in your eyes  
When you think of love you think of compromise. _

_It's no big disgrace, there's no loss of grace,  
The trouble is there's always someone there to take your place…" _

They had managed to wind their way backstage. The five crewmembers gawked from the wings at the flashing lights and musicians only a hundred feet before them.

_And the trouble is you don't believe that it's true  
When the sun goes down there's something left for you… _

Sakura stared, slack-jawed at the blond girl shaking her hips and wagging her finger at the crowd.

_The trouble is I see you missing so much  
While you're knocking on all the wrong doors looking for some angel's touch… _

Sakura bounced up and down a little in joy, singing along to the song. The performance was loud and energetic and unlike anything they had seen before.

_You think she's everything you're dreaming of  
The trouble is those angels never fall in love!" _

_.: V.Peterson/Hoffs 1985 :. _

In about two minutes the song was over and to Sakura's delight, the singer waved to the audience and jogged offstage in their direction. Only a few feet from where they stood stagehands and assistants swarmed over her, giving her a drink of water and toweling her down like a prizefighter. The audience stomped their feet and screamed for her to return and she didn't keep them waiting. Chanson didn't play any instruments but her voice and her body were all she needed. The crowd went wild as she returned to give them three more songs before a long goodbye.

"Thank you Arubarna!" she cried. "Goodnight!" The idol blew the crowd kisses and slowly retreated to the wings again.

The swarm of assistants was back, but Sakura managed to get very close this time. Taka watched him carefully, noting a half dozen frog-man security guards had also taken notice.

"Chan-chan!" Sakura piped above the din. "Chan-chan! It's me!"

Finally, the singer looked his way. One of her eyes was covered by long, blond bangs and there was no recognition on her face. She glanced to her left to make sure the guards were close.

"It's me!" he repeated. "Sakura!"

Chanson's face contorted from confusion to repulsion. Her mouth opened. "Security!" she screamed.

"Ah! You _are_ a scary stalker fanboy!" Iisopp shouted.

"Shit!" Taka grabbed Chisa who was still marveling at the pretty lights. "Come on, we're outta here!" The boys agreed and they man-handled Sakura and tried to flee. Huge frog-men were all around them.

"Ninja girl, don't! Let me go!" Sakura squirmed, but didn't transform.

"Che," Taka scoffed. "I can't draw my sword here - we'll be thrown in prison! But that doesn't mean I can't do _something_!" She pulled a smoke bomb from her shirt and threw it to the ground. Under the cover of smoke the crew of the Ferris made a hasty retreat back into the winding hallways underneath the theater.

_To be continued..._


	18. Today Can Totally Bite Me

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

**Part 4 of 4 in a saga**

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Eighteen - Today Can Totally Bite Me**

When she was sure they were far enough away, Taka turned and gaped. Chisa gasped for air, having been dragged along the whole way. Jones held her other hand fast but didn't seem to be bothered by the running. Iisopp and Sakura were nowhere in sight.

"Shit!" Taka hissed again and punched the cement-block wall, forming a rather large crater. "Sorry," she apologized to it quietly.

"We'll find them," Jones assured her. "Let's get out of here. If we can get to the palace and find Vivi we'll be ok."

"Yeah, but Iisopp has The Book," she pointed out. "All we have is our word to prove who we are."

Jones raised a brow and was about to say something to Taka when his sister tugged at his shirt.

"Nii-chan," Chisa said, looking up at her older brother. "What do we do?"

He pouted slightly. "We go to the palace. When we came in I noticed the theater is connected to it. Follow me," he said and they did.

**.x.**

When Iisopp noticed that the others weren't behind him he stopped dragging Sakura and stood dumbly in the middle of the hallway. "Ok," he said calmly. "Looks like we lost them. But we also lost Jojo and them." Sakura didn't respond. Iisopp looked up at him and waved his hand in front of his face. "Hello? Earth to Dr. Hulgan?"

"She recognized me. I know she did… Why did she call security on me?"

"'Cause you're a rabid fanboy who snuck into her show and scared the crap out of her?" Iisopp suggested, tugging him toward a set of stairs.

He didn't answer, but followed as if in a trance. They ascended one flight, but the commotion coming from that floor drove them further upwards. Three flights up, Iisopp poked his head out and not hearing anyone shouting for their hides, made his way out into the plush carpeted hallway.

They heard a slight ping and a set of elevator doors opened. Three frog security guards and Chanson herself emerged. She looked utterly shocked to see the tall fanboy again. Iisopp stopped in his tracks and lifted up his hands. Before he could come up with an excuse Sakura stepped past him.

"Chan-chan, please wait!" he cried quickly. "It's really me, Sakura! I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I never thought I'd ever get to actually meet you in real life, you've got to understand that!"

The guards tensed up, ready to spring into action at Chanson's command. She raised a hand, commanding them to wait. The pop star glowered with her one exposed eye in the boys' direction. "Prove it," she growled.

Sakura took a deep breath. "Last year your pet Chihuahua Mister Pookums died. Some interviewer asked you about it and you said that you missed him and how sweet he was. But you wrote _me_ that you really couldn't stand the 'damn thing' because when he barked he peed a little and he didn't like to be held." He clenched his teeth and waited. Iisopp kept his eye on the body guards.

"Ok. You're Sakura… but…" Chanson made a face. "Since when are you a _guy_!"

**.x. **

On the other side of the long hall, Jones, Taka and Chisa had gone the same route that their friends had taken on the other side of the building and were headed toward them a good five hundred feet and a ninety degree angle away. They crept along following a sign that directed them toward the elevators. "We must be in a hotel part of this building," Jones remarked. The doors were labeled with names like 'Chrysanthemum Suite' and 'Peony Penthouse' rather than numbers. "Must be ritzy."

"We're going to take the elevators?" Taka asked. "Isn't that a bit dangerous?"

"They won't expect us to go that way," he answered.

Taka stopped in the hall and rolled her eyes at him. "Makes perfect sense." Suddenly she tensed. "Wait," Taka hissed. It was too late. If it hadn't been for the two people she was with holding her back she would have easily evaded the strong presence she sensed approaching.

A door opened and a man in a black suit stepped out and lit a cigarette. The eye that faced them was covered by a shock of graying-blond hair. He turned further away from them as he heard Chanson shouting from the right but quickly turned to face them. "Ah, so you're the party crashers," he purred through a thick, push-broom mustache that was even grayer than his hair color. He held a small denden mushi in his hand "I'm glad I had a mainline to security," he said and pocketed it. His mustache curved up into a delightedly evil smile. "No one upsets my Chan-chan!"

Sensing his intent to kick their asses, Taka crouched down a bit and slowly made for her short sword. "I don't care about your Chan-chan. We're just trying to get our friends out of here."

The man took a drag off of his cigarette and glared at her. "A critic, eh? Then you better watch your mouth!" He pivoted and swung his long left leg out at them. Jones grabbed Chisa and Taka stepped in front of them to take the hit in order to give them time to flee. Her body seemed to change into a rather solid fire extinguisher in a puff of smoke. She was surprise that other than making a resounding 'bong'ing sound, the metal extinguisher didn't seem to faze the man in the suit.

"Woah," she said, giving away her new location behind him. "Jones, get out of here! I'll find Iisopp and the Doctor!" she shouted and headed further toward the sound of Chanson's voice, knowing the man in the suit would follow her.

"Iisopp?..." he muttered and paused for a moment before chasing after Taka.

Jones gnashed his teeth, torn between wanting to help and wanting to keep his sister safe. She made the decision for him by letting go of his hand. "Thank you, Nii-chan," she said with a kind smile. "But I don't need saving anymore." Chisa ran after the man with the pushbroom mustache. "He likes to use those legs of his, eh?" Chisa said to her brother. The devious smile spreading over her lips made him sweat a little.

Jones nodded, darted around the enemy and swung to a stop in front of Taka, Iisopp and Sakura. "Did I miss anything?" he asked and prepared for a fight.

The adult caught sight of the pop idol standing and staring at the steadily growing bunch of weirdos in the hallway. "Ah! Chan-chwan! Are you alright?" he cried and spread his arms open as he ran. She rolled her eyes but before she could comment, the adult's progress was impeded. He lifted his strong left leg only to find it had a fourteen year old girl attached to it. Chisa had lunged at him from behind and grasped onto his shin. She dangled gawkily, her skirt hanging loosely giving everyone in front of them a show. Iisopp's nose bled a little.

She shot the man a large, closed-eye grin and giggled. "Gotcha!"

He stared at her in disbelief then up at green haired Taka wielding her short sword, Sakura with his look of complete rejection, Iisopp clutching a fairly old-fashioned looking pistol and Jones with his orange hair and confident brown eyes. "Who the heck are you?" he muttered and sufficiently diffused, gently set Chisa down. She remained laced around his leg, a bit confused that the confrontation was so suddenly over.

Iisopp's stern look melted and he put his gun away. "I don't believe it," he said, laughing a little. He sloughed The Book on his back to the ground, slipped the straps off and turned it to face the blond man. "I think this is for you."

"Eh?" Taka asked and raised a brow. "Who's he?"

"He recognizes us and I recognize him, even with the goofy mustache. He's the fifth Straw Hat Pirate, Sanji the Chef," Iisopp answered. Sanji stared at the cover of The Book and its gilt Mugiwara Boshi cover in shocked silence. "I'm Iisopp, son of Usopp. This is Chopper's son Dr. Sakura Hulgan, Nami and Luffy's kids Jones and Chisa, and our tag-a-long, Tashiro no Taka," he introduced everyone quickly.

Chisa waved from her seat on Sanji's shoe. "Hii!"

There was an awkward pause as Chisa let go and Sanji crouched down to take the 50 pound book from Iisopp. His mouth moved, but he was totally speechless. Chanson, however, was not.

"Ok. My supposed best friend is a dude and my father is a pirate. Great. Today can totally bite me!" She thrust her chin in the air and marched back down to her suite followed by the two frog-man body guards. Sanji came back to his senses and reached dumbly after her. "Chan-chwan, wait!"

"And shave that ridiculous thing off your face!" she shouted and slammed the door behind her.

Chisa blinked and stared at Sanji's mustache. "I think it's cute," she whispered.

He sighed and turned back to the group of kids in the hall. "I'm sorry for the confusion. She's been overworked lately," he said with a sigh and smiled at them pleasantly. "Please, come with me. I think a certain pair of ladies who are having tea together right now would love to meet you."


	19. I’d Hate To Have To Kill You

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

Part 4 of 4 in a saga

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Nineteen - I'd Hate To Have To Kill You**

Smoker didn't like being ordered around, but Robin was right. She would do best to remain with their unmarked Marine ship and tail the Straw Hats' kids in case they left Arabasta early, and this task she sent him on best suited someone like him. He walked up the dock toward the brick buildings that made up the city blocks of waterfront Fortuna, only a half a day's sail from Arabasta. A lead said that Portgas D. Ace was supposedly living the clean life somewhere on this island. Judging from the tough-looking characters that crowded the wharf, it was the sort of place that a strong former Whitebeard pirate could easily call home.

Smoker found the most densely packed tavern and took a seat at the bar. Even in the early afternoon, there were plenty of patrons. An hour passed and someone finally approached him.

"Can I help you?" a vivacious blond woman asked with a sly smile.

"I'm all set, thanks."

"Well, you've been taking up my bar space for an hour and haven't even bought a drink," she pointed out and arched a thin eyebrow at him.

"Are you the owner?"

"I am," she said, narrowing her eyes "Who are you?"

Smoker turned his head to get a better look at her. The idea to tell her _exactly_ who he was crossed his mind and an image of Robin slowly shaking her head at him quickly erased it. "I'm looking for someone," he answered.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes. If I order something, can I wait here a bit longer?"

She was taken aback at his easy-going attitude. "Sure mister." She snapped her fingers and called the bartender over. "Start this man a tab," she commanded and went to the door. Leaning toward one of the two large men serving as passive bouncers, the owner discreetly whispered to one of them and he left the tavern.

"Good," Smoker grumbled to himself as the bartender poured him a scotch. He didn't have to read lips to know what the woman had just done. "You go tell Ace there's a big, scary looking old guy waiting for him and he'll come running."

**.x.**

Sure enough, not a half hour later in strolled the very man Smoker was looking for. When the owner saw him she bolted to Smoker's side. "Anything else I can get you?" she asked him suddenly, trying to distract him. She waved with the hand behind his back at Ace who just kept coming. Smoker ignored her and stood.

"Well, well. Don't tell me the Marines finally caught up with me, Captain Smoker?" Ace said with a grin.

"Marine. Singular. And it's _Vice Admiral_ these days, Portgas D. Ace," he corrected him.

The tavern owner clenched her fists. "Settle down, Viva," Ace suggested and she folded her arms and glared at him.

Ace motioned for Smoker to take a seat and they sat at the bar together. "So. Do you expect me to come peacefully?"

Smoker finished off his scotch. "I'm here on reconnaissance. If you give me the information I'm looking for I'll forget all about seeing you."

"I'm listening," Ace said and offered Vivace a seat next to him.

"You were given an inheritance from your former captain. A friend of mine is interested in it."

Vivace made a face. "Inheritance?" she asked her partner. "You hidin' something from me?"

"I didn't receive any money from our Old Man," he replied and stared at Smoker, unblinking.

"Not cash, a device. An antique in a large wooden box about six feet by five feet…" the marine tried to jog his memory. The quick glance Vivace shot Ace confirmed he was on the right trail. "Care to part with it?"

"Already have," Ace admitted. "My…"

"Don't you _dare_ say another word!" Vivace shouted at Ace.

Ace was as calm as ever. "He made his bed, he can lie in it," he replied. "Since he made off with it, it's his responsibility now."

"Some one stole it?" Smoker asked, trying to remain cool headed.

"Our son. He goes by The Strongman, Ed Divine but he'll answer to 'Vane'," Ace admitted, ignoring the intense glare his partner was drilling into him. "Came here a couple weeks ago and carried the box off with him. He sails with the Buggy Pirates. If you find them, you should find him."

The Vice Admiral breathed a sigh. "I doubt he's with them right now. It seems these things are communicating with their carriers to move them somewhere. Any idea where to?"

Ace frowned. "It never said anything like that to me. Just sort of hummed every once in a while."

Vivace raised a brow and looked at Ace as if he was setting the bar on fire. "What the heck are you talking about?"

"The respirator in the box is old and weird. The Captain said that Roger gave it to him and it was some sort of ancient technology. It sort of hummed on its own. I don't know why."

"What did Roger tell Whitebeard?" Smoker asked, leaning in a little.

Ace folded his arms. "Dunno. Whatever they said it's with the angels now. The Captain told me that it was a respirator. It was really old and really important for me to keep and never give it to anyone else unless I died, then to give it to my son or someone I trusted with my life. I didn't question him, but I don't really see what's so special about it."

"Of course not," Smoker grumbled. Another dead end. Robin wasn't going to be happy. He stood and pulled a fresh cigar from the inside pocket of his jacket.

"That's all?" Ace asked with a confused look on his face.

"Unfortunately. Someone made me promise to let you go if you cooperated."

"Thank that someone. I'd hate to have to kill you," Ace said with a grin.

"Yeah, yeah," the Vice Admiral waved as he walked out of the bar. He was sure that Ace was being truthful, about the box and about the threat.

**.x.**

As Smoker walked back down to the wharf through Fortuna's narrow, cobbled streets he was preoccupied with processing his findings and with wondering what Madame Curator would think of them. In a day his ship would reach Arabasta and he could give her what little information he had collected.

Robin and Smoker rarely saw each other. She reported to him once a week as per her parole agreement with the New World Government. She would convey her whereabouts and a general summary of her findings and in the last decade or so would usually tease the Marine officer somehow. Usually, she called in with an unbelievable alias. His secretary would page him and say that there was a Ubiquita O. Gallant on the line, or a Bertha-May Frankenstein, or even Her Royal Highness The Queen of The Grand Line when she had especially good news to report. At first Robin's unprofessional attitude irritated him to no end. Soon, he realized that this wasn't teasing. According to the parole agreement, she had also forsaken her name. What did it matter what she called herself if she couldn't be called Nico Robin? One day, after a few years of being referred to as his title only, Smoker asked her if she would call him by his name he would call her by hers. The younger woman was deeply touched, but to this day rarely referred to him by anything other than 'Vice Admiral'.

Smoker paused to light his cigar and breathed a sigh. "That woman…" he grumbled to himself. He didn't notice the short, old woman approach him until she tugged on his jacket.

"Excuse me, Sonny," she said in a raspy voice that shivered with age. "I seem to be a bit lost. Can you direct me to the sea-side?"

"Certainly," he answered. "It's right this way."

"I'm sorry, Son, I can hardly hear," she said, motioning to for him to bow closer to her. Smoker complied politely and suddenly the woman jumped up and grasped him around the neck. "Thank you!" she cried and Smoker fell to his knees.

The sensation was a bit like the wave of relief one feels with the first few sips of a double bourbon: a cool, smooth comfortable feeling of sinking. This was immediately followed by another sort of sinking feeling: the kind one gets when one is drowning. Smoker stared incredulously as the old woman around his neck began to change shape. He tried to turn his own body to smoke, but it was not at his command. "Don't struggle, Sonny. It'll all be over soon. Let's see. You're about fifty or so years old, am I right? That'll do nicely," she purred. The shivery voice was gone. Finally she let go and stood up over him. The old woman was gone and before him was a teenaged girl with dark violet shoulder length hair. She was wearing the same clothes, but they fit altogether differently on her young frame. "Now," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "You're going to tell me what you know about Newgate's piece."

"Who… are you…?" Smoker managed to ask. He hadn't grown old, but he had never felt so powerless in his life.

"Name's Williams," she answered. "Vaughn Williams of the Lost Pirates. I hit a dead end with my search until this lead sprung up but it looks like you beat me to it!" She reeled back and kicked the doubled over Marine in the gut. "Sodding government. So you bloodsuckers haven't changed a bit, have you? Still after the ancient powers, eh? You're barking up the wrong tree, Marine Dog!"

"That's not very nice," a strong voice said from behind them. Flames flashed to life surrounding his left hand as Ace made his presence known. It cast terrifying shadows around the muscular former pirate. "Didn't anyone ever teach you that you get more flies with honey than with vinegar?"

"Hi Ken no Ace," Williams grumbled. "Well, this is unexpected. To think of one Eddy's men would come to this dog's aid!"

"If you value your life I suggest you not say another word," he said darkly and took a step forward. To his surprise, Williams glanced at Smoker, glanced back to Ace, made up her mind and fled. Ace returned his fist to normal and helped Smoker to his feet. A group of Marines charged toward them, shouting, asking if the Vice Admiral was alright. He waved to dismiss them and Ace, being nothing more than a Good Samaritan to them, turned to go. "Consider this thanks," he said with a grin. "For what you did for my brother."

Smoker nodded and the Marines helped him get aboard their ship.


	20. Everyone Else Has A Good Relationship

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

**Part 4 of 4 in a saga**

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Twenty - Everyone Else Has A Good Relationship With Their Parents**

In an expansive parlor inside the Royal Palace, two women, Queen Nefertari Vivi and Harmony Sairen and a young teenage girl with long, lavender hair and such beauty that she could only be the Princess were seated at a small round table having high tea. Two armed guards stood at each of the four doors to the room. Sanji was allowed to enter and strolled over to the table. He bowed to the Queen and Princess and bowed to kiss the Superstar. He whispered something to them and gestured for the guards at the door from which he entered to let the Treasure Hunters in. They were lined up before the ladies and announced. Vivi stood and covered her mouth with her hand. Harmony remained seated. Both women were awestruck and overjoyed to see their dear friends' children.

As pleasantries and stories were exchanged Taka made her way to the windows. She looked down at the long steps that lead up to the palace vacantly. Quietly, Sanji joined her.

"Why haven't you told them who you are?" he asked. "I was his nakama for a long time and I'm a lot harder to fool than the rest of them."

Taka's brows came together. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You look just like him."

Taka frowned and turned her head to face him. "Well, you see, everyone else has a _good_ relationship with their parents," she admitted.

Sanji deflated slightly. "You don't?"

Taka had been keeping a troubling secret to herself. At last a situation had presented itself where she could let it out. Even so, she tried to remain calm. "When we went to Sakura Island I learned that my father was a pirate and that these kids were all connected to him. I've been searching for him for months and they're looking for him for a totally different reason. I can just stay with them and I'd reach my goal."

"And that is…?" Sanji asked apprehensively.

"To defeat my father."

He was shocked and a little offended by the idea what his good friend's daughter was so indignant. "Why? You're that pissed off that he beat Mihawk and is now the greatest swordsman in the world?"

This was obviously news to her. She stared at the chef with wide eyes. "You're kidding…"

"I saw him myself a few years ago in Largo. It's true."

Taka's face turned red. "That's even more unforgivable," she hissed. "When I was five years old he left us to do that." Her eyes pierced Sanji with a sort of devastated rage. "Why hasn't he returned!"

The last phrase was loud enough that it attracted the others' attention. The room, which had been filled with chatter, went silent. Sanji waved his arms wildly to cover for her. "Ah! Taka-chan, you're so cute!" he called out, laughing. When they fell back into their conversations he faced Taka again. "I don't know why he hasn't returned, Taka," he admitted. "When I saw him, he didn't mention…" Too late, he knew he'd said the wrong thing. Taka clutched the window sill for support.

"He didn't even tell you he had a wife and child waiting for him…"

"Nonono!" Sanji tried to repair the damage. "He said that he and Tashigi had a little girl, but…" She looked up at him with pleading eyes. Only the truth would be appropriate. He couldn't lie to her. "But he didn't say why he wasn't going home. I'm sorry." Gently, the former pirate put his hand on her shoulder. "I know Zoro. I know he doesn't do things senselessly. He must have a reason."

The gesture was foreign. Never having had her own father console her, she shuddered and shrugged his hand off. "I'll find out. When I defeat him," Taka growled.

"Good luck with that," Sanji said with a sigh. "Like I said, he defeated Mihawk. He's pretty unbelievably strong."

"He's just a swordsman," she said, sneering a little.

"And you are…?"

Taka took a deep breath and made to rejoin the others. "I am a ninja."

**.X.**

Unfortunately, Robin heard the news before Smoker got a chance to talk to her himself. Within her earshot a low rank officer informed one of the enlisted men that "The Vice Admiral had a heart attack!"

She leapt up from her deck chair and stared down at the much shorter man. "Where is he?"

As if on cue, Smoker turned the corner and approached her, followed by a Captain from the ship he had taken to Fortuna. "Are you alright?" Robin asked, doing her best to conceal her worry. Smoker waved his hand and gave the Captain a glare that said 'enough. Leave me alone. Now.'

Robin followed Smoker to his chambers where the Vice Admiral collapsed onto his berth and closed his eyes. "You hardly look like a man who had a heart attack," she remarked, doing her best to hide her worry.

"That's because I didn't. I was attacked by one of the Lost Pirates."

A sigh of relief turned into as a gasp and Robin trembled a little. Earlier in the voyage she had told him that they didn't need backup against this rag-tag group of old men. She hoped she wasn't wrong. "McRae?" she asked. "After fighting him myself in Rogue Town I can't imagine that you'd have difficulty with him."

He shook his head. "A woman named Williams. Sucked all my energy with some sort of Paramecia ability that turned her young again."

Robin pursed her lips and sat down on a leather chair at his bedside. "That's troublesome. I take it she got away?"

"She did. If it weren't for Portgas, I wouldn't have made it." He opened his right eye and glanced at her. Noting the way she had her arms tightly folded with tension he sat up and rubbed his head. "I did manage to get some info out of the guy." That perked her up. Her shoulders relaxed.

"Then let's call in together, shall we?" Robin asked and sprouted a third arm that lifted the receiver of a Den Den Mushi on the bedside table between them. She asked to be connected to the World History Academy and gave the name Madame Curator to the operator. Soon the device's expression changed to one of delight.

"Ah! My dear Madame, how are you!" a male voice on the other side cried.

"I'm well, Director Weimaraner. The Vice Admiral and I have some news for you." She pointed the mouthpiece at Smoker and he relayed what Ace had told him about his son and the whereabouts of their box.

"Ah, I wish young Diego were here, he'd be ecstatic to hear your progress!" Weimaraner exclaimed.

Robin straightened up at the mention of his name. "Oh? Where is he?"

"Gone on vacation!" the Den Den Mushi chimed. "He handed in his dissertation last week and took a couple of weeks off to go to home to Guraba to visit Captain Coby and Miss Alice."

"Ah, that's nice. It's been a while since he's been to see his parents," Robin said and tried to smile. "Who did he go with, one of the professors?"

"You won't believe it, Madame," the director's voice said. "He went all by himself!"

Robin didn't have a reply. Smoker leaned in and took the mouthpiece from her third arm and it dispersed. "'Bout time that nerdy brat got out from under all those books," he quipped. "Listen, Director, we'll call with the next update when we have more info."

"I anxiously await your call." Weimaraner said good-bye and ended the call.

For a moment the room was quiet save for the lulling sound of the ship bobbing on the waves. Smoker stared at Robin whose eyes unfocused somewhere near her hands. "The Straw Hat kids left yet?" he asked, not able to think of anything appropriate to say.

This snapped her out of her funk. "Not yet. Usopp's son returned with some palace guards to get something that looked like huge books out of their ship, but they haven't returned."

Smoker stretched and stood up. "Huge books?" he repeated.

"I'm as intrigued as you are," she said and stood as well. "But I don't believe they have anything to do with our mission."

Smoker nodded and Robin took her leave. "Robin," he called before she opened the door. "Maybe if we're headed that way, we can stop at Guraba and you can see Diego, yourself."

"Thank you, but that won't be necessary." She paused but didn't turn to face him before leaving. "Such frivolity would only hinder the mission."


	21. That’s 'cause Your Middle Name Is Luffy

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

**Part 4 of 4 in a saga**

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Twenty One - That's Because Your Middle Name Is 'Luffy'**

Sakura watched Sanji and Taka at the window and wondered what they could possibly be talking about, but his attention was drawn away as the doors opened again. Just when he was starting to relax his pulse raced once more. The tall young man sunk down in his chair and tried to seem invisible.

The Queen of Arabasta looked up and stopped chatting with Iisopp and Harmony about the Books which had been retrieved from the Ferris and splayed out before them. "Hello, Chan-chan, please come in," Vivi greeted the singing-star.

"Ah, Chanson! You've got to check this out!" the younger, lavender haired girl seated between Harmony and Vivi cried.

The pop idol stared at the group of kids and scoffed, ignoring them as she approached the women. "Wanna go shopping, Kleo? It's been eons since I've hit Arubarna's markets."

"Not right now, Chanson," she replied. "The Straw Hat Pirates' progeny have paid us a visit! Isn't it exciting?"

Harmony smiled. "I bet it is for you, Princess Nefertari _Luffy_ Kelo!" she addressed Vivi's daughter who nodded enthusiastically.

Jones and Chisa boggled. "Luffy!" the both cried.

"That's right," Kleo said with a smile. "Mother named me for your father - the savior of Arabasta!"

Chanson's face turned pink and her well-manicured nails dug into her palms. "Who cares about a bunch of lame-ass pirates anyway!" she shouted, glaring at the stack of oversized books on the table.

Harmony clenched her teeth and fumbled for the right words to calm her down. "Now, now, Chanson… these children are…"

"They brought this stalker boy with them, Mom!" Chanson cried back. Sakura sank down almost under the small table he and Chisa shared. She blinked at him as he disappeared. "They're no better than their pirate parents!"

"Chanson!" Vivi asserted. "These children are guests of the Crown and have the same status as _you_ do right now. I suggest you apologize to them and to _me_."

The singer looked fit to burst. Her nails dug in deeper. "I'm… sorry, Vivi-sama." she choked out, turned on her heel and ran out of the room.

Her father, just coming back from the windows spread his arms out wide. "Ah! Chan-chan!" he piped in greeting.

"And shave that stupid-ass thing off!" The massive door slammed behind her and the room went quiet again.

Sanji looked ashen. Harmony sighed and apologized to Vivi who patted her shoulder and graciously accepted. She turned to say something to her own daughter but Kleo was a step ahead. She simply nodded and excused herself from the group. "I'll go calm her down." She bowed to the other children. "Forgive her, please. She's really a nice person, usually."

Sanji turned his head to the group and pointed to his bushy mustache. "Does it really look stupid?" he whined.

Chisa was the only one who didn't mutter excuses. "I think it's cute. Makes you look old and silly!"

Jones slapped his forehead. Sanji seemed to turn completely to ash and crumble a little. Harmony laughed out loud. "Just like your father!" she said with a wide smile. "No shame at all!" Vivi and Iisopp laughed heartily. Jones joined Sakura under the table.

**.x.**

Kleo knocked on the door, even though as the heir to the throne of Arabasta she hardly needed permission to go anywhere on the island. She waited patiently, flanked by two ever-present palace guards for Chanson to answer. When she did, she simply opened the door, saw who it was and turned to lie back down on a divan. Kleo left the guards in the hall and seated herself on an overstuffed chair on the left side of the divan. "I heard you didn't know Sanji-san was a pirate."

"Didn't know he was a Straw Hat," Chanson confirmed. She had her right arm draped melodramatically over her eyes.

"Did you know that our mothers also sailed with the Straw Hats?"

"Nope."

"Doesn't that excite you?"

"Nope!"

"It excites me."

"That's because your middle name is 'Luffy'."

Kleo smiled with royal grace. "It's because when I was little, over and over again I was told an amazing story about how my kingdom was saved and now for the first time I can reach out and touch living history!"

"Then maybe you should marry one of them," she spat.

Kleo sighed. "This isn't about me. It's about you, isn't it?" Chanson shrugged. "Well, the children are not pirates," she corrected. "Jones-san said they're Treasure Hunters. What is it you have against them?"

Chanson wriggled a bit, as if trying to physically avoid her friend's questioning. She pouted. "It's not _them_. It's _him_!"

This was a surprise to Kleo. She sat up straighter and started to feel a bit like a psychiatrist. "Oh?"

Chanson stopped wriggling. "The tall, scrawny kid. _He_. Is. _Sakura_."

Kleo boggled. "Your pen-pal, Sakura? _Thee_ Sakura from Sakura island!"

"Yep."

"Wow! She's a he, huh?"

"_Huh_!" Chanson repeated. She threw her legs over the edge of the divan and sat up. "How about '_damn it?_!' I've been lied to all this time! Sakura wasn't my good friend, she was just another stupid drooling _fanboy_!"

Unlike a psychiatrist, Kleo smirked and folded her arms. "Aha. You're upset that Sakura wasn't what you expected her to be so you threw her, I mean _him_, away." When Chanson didn't respond Kleo softened a bit. "Whenever you got a letter from him you'd call me up read it to me. I know all about him and how even though you'd never met you were really good friends with him."

"I was friends with _her_!" Chanson shouted.

"He's still Sakura, the _person_ you've known for three years now," Kleo argued as she got up out of the big, fluffy chair she had been sinking into and stood in front of her friend. "And you threw his friendship in his face and turned your back on him because he was a _he_. That's pretty shallow."

"It's not shallow," Chanson whispered and contemplated the carpet for a moment. "I just… didn't think he was a fanboy. I thought he was a girl who understood who I was, who I _really_ was, like you do!" she cried and looked up at Kleo. "I thought he was the one _real_ person out there who heard my music and actually heard _me_."

"Maybe he is! Have you talked to him?" Kleo said, taking her much taller friend by the hands. Chanson pouted and turned her head but didn't pull her hands away. "And maybe he's _also_ a raving fanboy. Even if he's not what you were looking for, Chanson, maybe these guys are the 'real' friends you've always wanted. You have to decide if you can deal with it, but give it a chance at least!"

"Or I can run away," Chanson grumbled.

"You should go with them."

Chanson wasn't amused. She tilted her head to the side and glared at Kleo for a beat. "What they're doing, this treasure hunting, is undoubtedly dangerous and besides that it's _stupid_."

"It's _fate_!" Kleo protested. "You of all people should understand that. You always talk about fate. You always said it was fate that our parents knew each other and we became friends. That it was fate that you became a big star!"

"No," Chanson said darkly and released Kleo's hands. "I was wrong."

Kleo snatched them back up. "Think about it. I would go if I could, but I have too much to do here in Arabasta to go trekking around the Grand Line having fun…" she looked sad for a moment. "You'll have to have it for me."

"No."

"Maybe?" Kleo displayed her very best puppy-dog eyes.

"No!" Chanson asserted, trying not to laugh.

"Come on, for me!" The eyes got bigger and sadder.

"No!" Chanson laughed and stood. "Look. If I tell you I'll think about it will you give it a rest for the night?"

"Certainly." Kleo gave Chanson's hands one more squeeze before letting her go and leaving the room. "If I don't see you tomorrow, have fun for me, ok!"

"Whatever!" Chanson gave her a wave as the door closed and let out a long sigh. "Good lord that girl is persistent. She can't be right, can she?" she muttered and headed for the bathroom to take a nice, long shower. Suddenly, the singer stopped in her tracks. Her pulse raced and her eyes widened. "Who... who said that?" She turned around in the suite's large main room. "Where!" Her eyes came to rest on the large wooden box in the corner: the music box her mother called 'Vincento.' She breathed a sigh of relief and approached it. "Wait… Since when do you talk to _me_?" she asked with a suspicious brow raised. "Whaaaat? Wait, slow down, I don't understand. You want me to take you to the amusement park? Not a Ferris Wheel… a Ferris _Boat_?"


	22. We got Us A Stowaway

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

**Part 4 of 4 in a saga**

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Twenty Two - We got Us A Stowaway**

A long ways from Arabasta, an old man poured himself some clean, clear water from a golden spout and peered at the sunshine that glittered as it diffracted in the rough-blown glass. He made sure the tap was tight and patted the side of a wooden box that surrounded the tap. "Thank you, me boy," he croaked and slowly shuffled toward a low-slung hammock stretched between two massive, gnarled fig trees. He downed the glass of the water and smacked his lips before climbing gingerly into the hammock and slipping easily into sleep.

**.x.**

He was aboard the ship again. The last one he'd ever set foot on before arriving on the island. The weather was picture-perfect; white, fluffy clouds drifted by on a crystalline blue sky. He was a young man again. He strode across the deck with a spring in his step. As he noticed a younger man at the bow looking through a telescope he slowed his pace and his mouth twisted into a pout. "How we doin', Kiddo?" he called to him.

"Getting closer, Bolly-san!" he replied, turning with a wide smile and closed, happy eyes. He was of average height and weight, had shaggy black hair tied back in a small pig tail and sparkling black eyes. His clothes were simple - a white shirt, black sash and grayish pants. His boots were half untied and folded down making a huge cuff around his ankles. "According to my calculations and if the locals are correct, which I believe they are, we'll reach the water spout soon."

Bolly's eyes lit up at this. He was broad-shouldered and wore dingy, greying red and white striped pants tied with a black sash and a linen shirt mostly open displaying his hairy chest. Six single-shot muskets were strapped to his chest and a brown bandana held a head of wild bright green hair at bay. He grinned at the young man. "Still seems impossible, though, doesn't it? Sailing into the sky?"

The young navigator tilted his head to the side. "Nothing is impossible for the Captain."

Bolly pursed his lips and nodded slowly. He leaned against the rail and looked out at the horizon as the one he called 'kiddo' peered out through the telescope again. "That is very true," he agreed. "Vincent," he addressed him by his name but didn't turn his head away from the view. "The Captain told us what's going on."

Slowly, Navigator Vincent lowered his telescope. "I begged him to wait until after we'd finished this leg of the voyage…" he muttered and sighed. His brows pinched together and he coughed slightly.

"You don't need to hide it anymore, Kiddo."

Vincent squeezed his eyes shut. "Does everyone know?"

"Just the Four."

"I'm so sorry…"

"For what? Something you can't control?" Bolly gripped the railing and shouted down at the water that churned below. "It's not like you're choosing to die!"

Vincent lifted the telescope up to his chest and it seemed to float a few inches above his palm. It spun around three or four times before resting gently in his hand again. "I was going to fill my father's sails all the way to his goal..."

Bolly stood up and stared at the young pirate. He wasn't angry or sad that his life would be cut short, just that he couldn't be of assistance to his father and captain. Bolly marveled at him and did his best to hold back his tears. "Nothing will stop the Captain from reaching his goal. We'll make sure of that," he said and clapped a hand on the young man's shoulder.

"I'm counting on you, Bolly-san!"

**.x.**

Bolly, now an old man muttered as he turned in his hammock. "I know you are, Kiddo. I know you are…"

**.X.**

Under the cover of darkness, Chanson crept toward the Ferris, directed by the whispering music box strapped to her back. She had words with it when she realized that there was no easy way to board the ship. More than a few people were beginning to stare. Motivated to avoid being recognized, she quickly found her way aboard and found the room in which Jones had hidden his own box. She set hers down and breathed a sigh.

"There. I'm done. Good luck, I'm running away now" she muttered. As she turned to go she heard footsteps on the deck above. The ship began to move. Chanson sighed. "This is gonna suck."

The footsteps spread out around the ship. A set of them stopped at the top of the stairs then quickly ran down them. Blue D. Jones threw the door open and stared incredulously at her. "Hey! It's you!"

"It's me," Chanson said with a sigh. "What are you doing here?"

"This is our ship. We're headed out. What about you…?" His gaze fell past her to the boxes against the wall. "Holy crap it multiplied!"

"No, you moron. That one's mine. Well, it was my mother's."

Jones walked past Chanson and put a hand on each of them. "Can you hear yours?" he asked very seriously. Chanson nodded. "What's he telling you?"

"It wanted to board this ship. It seems to think it's where it needs to be, that it's going on a trip or something and wouldn't stop crying until I agreed to take it here. Nutty, huh?" she asked and lit a cigarette. "All my life I knew my mom had this weird connection with Vincento, but I didn't know she could really hear it talking."

"Vincent…o…" Jones mouthed. An image of the black-haired young man from his vision flashed across his mind but he said nothing. "Do you hear words?" he asked the pop star.

"No," Chanson answered. "It's more like music. Feelings, pictures. Ideas." Suddenly, the ship rolled to starboard in the wake of another vessel coming into port and Chanson's box slid against Jones' with a woody thump. Both owners staggered. "Did you feel that!" she hissed.

"Yeah…" Jones replied. "It was like, joy, relief."

"Gratitude."

Jones nodded.

Chanson pouted and finally pulled her eyes away from the music box. "My mother said that she didn't hear Vincento until after my grandfather died and gave it to her. Why can I hear it now? My mom's fine."

Jones bit his lip. "Sorry, I dunno much about these things myself. Who was your mother's father?"

"Richard Sairen. He was a musician and a pirate. I never knew him."

Their attention was diverted as Iisopp pounded down the stairs. "Jojo you lazy piece of shit, get up here and help us get back out of… oh, hey. Heh," he chuckled as he spied the pop star. "Sorry. Didn't know we had company. Want us to drop you off somewhere?"

Chanson closed her eyes. The box hummed happily in her head and showed her pictures of flowers and money. "Vincento seems to think I should hang with you for a while and if something happens to him my mom will totally kill me."

"Sweet!" Jones cheered.

Iisopp finally noticed the second box and pointed at it. "Whoa! It multiplied: he cried. Chanson heaved a large sigh. "Hey Doc! We got us a stowaway!" Iisopp called up the stairs to Sakura as he and Jones returned to deck.

"Oh _boy_ is this gonna suck…" Chanson grumbled, took another drag off her cigarette and followed the rambunctious young men from East Blue.

**.X.**

Back at the palace, a freshly shorn Sanji gnawed at his handkerchief and whined to his wife. "My sweet little girl couldn't have run away! She has everything she'd ever want!"

Harmony sat calmly on the couch in their room and sipped a glass of wine. Across from her the Princess of Arabasta tried not to sink into the chair she was sitting in. "The fact that Vincento is gone as well is what troubles me."

Sanji looked to the place the music box had stood, noticing for the first time that it was gone. "Ah! Someone kidnapped Chan-chan _and_ Vincento!"

Harmony let out a sigh but otherwise ignored her easily excited husband. "Kleo-hime, did Chanson say anything about leaving and taking the music box with her?"

The princess crossed and uncrossed her legs nervously. "Well, I'm sorry Harmony-san, but I think I egged her on…"

This raised a brow. "Oh?"

"I don't know why the music box is gone. That's sort of bugging me, too. But I'm sure I know where she went."

"Where?" Sanji cried, lunged at her and kneeled before her, taking her hand in his. "Please, Kleo-chan! Tell us!"

Kleo looked to Harmony who smiled sheepishly. "She went with the other Straw Hat children."

"Sailing on the Grand Line! But that's too dangerous!"

Harmony poured her husband a glass of wine and handed it to him. "Darling, please calm down. I agree that it's dangerous but she is _your_ daughter. She can handle herself."

"But!"

Harmony urged him to take the glass and repeated. "She can handle herself." Kleo seemed much relieved by Harmony's confidence and let out a sigh of relief. "You 'egged' her on, eh?"

Kleo made face. "Sorry, I suppose I wished to live vicariously through her adventures. I'm sure she's going to have the time of her life!"


	23. It’s A Good Thing She Can Cook

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

**Part 4 of 4 in a saga**

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Twenty Three - It's A Good Thing She Can Cook**

Chanson knew better than to expect the kind of treatment she was accustomed to when she woke; servants to clean her room, her father to make her gourmet meals, every luxury at her fingertips. She shuffled sleepily into the galley on the Ferris and seated herself at the far end of the table. The room was abuzz with chatter and chaos. Iisopp danced around Chisa as she pulled a cherry pie out of the refrigerator. Sakura's advice that pie for breakfast wasn't the healthiest choice fell on deaf ears. Jones yawned and measured out the wrong amount of coffee grounds. Taka was asleep, sitting bolt upright in a chair across from Chanson whose long, painted fingernails tapped faster and faster across the wooden table. As Iisopp was about to put a tablespoon of what he thought was paprika into a bowl full of beaten eggs Chanson slammed her hands down on the table, startling everyone. "Stop! Just… stop!" She shouted, waking Taka who muttered 'yes mother!' before coming to her senses.

"What's the matter?" Jones asked, blinking at her.

"Just… Step away from the stove." She glared at each offender in turn. "Dreadlock Boy, put the cayenne down before you kill us all. You, Little Girl, no pie for breakfast. Red, one tablespoon of coffee grounds per cup. Not four."

Slowly and carefully and without losing eye contact they each did as she said and backed away from the stove area. Chanson pushed her chair back, rolled up her sleeves and silently prepared breakfast.

"Awsome! I guess Sanji musta taught you how to cook, right?" Jones assumed.

Chanson shot him a glare that withered him. "As if."

"Her grandfather did," Sakura muttered. He too was given a glare, but his came with a disappointed pout. "I'll shut up now…" He folded his arms and sunk down into his chair again.

Chisa kicked her feet back and forth and leaned over the table with her head in her hands. "No, no! I wanna hear the story, Doc!"

A frying pan slammed down on a burner and made Sakura jump. "I think you should ask Chan-chan, Chisa."

"Tell, tell!" she repeated.

"Yeah, Chanson," Iisopp added. "From what I understand your mother's father died a long time ago, so you must be talking about Sanji's father?"

She shook her head slightly and rolled her eyes, deciding that she wasn't going to get away with silence. "No. Dad's dad died when he was a baby. I learned to cook from his mentor, Red Leg Zeff."

This impressed Iisopp beyond the ability to speak. He dashed from the room and returned instantly with The Book. Opening it to the first few chapters he showed the crew the illustration Usopp had drawn of the crew of the Ocean-going Restaurant Baratie. As Chanson brought plates of cloud-like scrambled eggs and crispy bacon and herbed hash browns to the table she couldn't help but smile at her 'grandfather's image.

"But when you heard your dad was a pirate you freaked out," Jones pointed out. "If you didn't know that, how did you know Zeff was called 'Red Leg'?"

She folded her arms. "My dad doesn't know that I know. He also doesn't know I got training from Zeff." Unfolding her arms she thrust her left hand into the center of the table. "See that?" she asked.

Iisopp squinted. "Um, no?"

"Yeah. Exactly." Chanson pointed with one red fingernail to a spot on her left index finger. "That little line right there. I cut my finger on a kitchen knife when I was four. My dad never let me in the kitchen again." She looked up from the tiny scar and furrowed her brows as she saw Sakura staring hard at the mark he'd only heard about in the personal letters they shared. He looked up and met her eyes but instantly regretted it. "Eat your damn breakfast. I'm not hungry," she growled and left the galley in a huff.

Taka yawned and broke the awkward silence. "Well. It's a good thing she can cook, isn't it?"

**.X.**

Vaughn laughed. Hard. "Oh, Angus, you're such an old fool!" she guffawed, pointing at him as he approached her on the pier at Fortuna. He looked dusty and tired. She had the appearance of a twenty-something but Angus McRae knew full well she was precisely 76 years old. "When Shark-boy called me and told me you were in trouble I damn near laughed myself to death!"

"That's too bad," McRae grumbled. "You survived."

Vaughn stopped laughing and stuck her tongue out at him. "You want rescuing or not, Old Man?"

"You can stop with that 'Old Man' business, Vaughn-chan. You've got a blessed short while left before that treatment of yours wears off, and being that I'm a year younger than you…"

"Six. Months," she reminded him.

"I'm younger than you are, so…"

"So then you should respect your elders!" she chimed, cutting him off again. His face flushed crimson with anger. "Get on the bloody boat before I change my mind." Vaughn indicated to a small sailing vessel behind her.

"You've been sailing that by yourself?" he asked incredulously, following her lead.

"It's got some of the King's good-stuff on board to keep it going when I'm weak." Vaughn pointed to a contraption stuck to the stern. It featured a large Dial, well hidden from the casual observer, as a sort of engine to propel the ship.

"Ah. I haven't seen one of those in a long while," McRae said, helping Vaughn to set the rigging and sail out of port.

"Don't get all nostalgic on me, now," she advised. "We gotta get going." Indeed, already in the last minute she'd aged a few years.

Silently, McRae agreed and they headed out to the open ocean. Vaughn said she had spied on the Marines and discovered that Smoker was headed for Arabasta. They set course according to one of several eternal poses they possessed and finally relaxed. By this time Vaughn appeared to be about fifty years of age.

"Where'd you get the juice?" McRae asked, taking a flask from the folds of his coat and unscrewing the top.

"A Logia user of a Marine dog," she said with a grin and fished in her bag for her glasses. "Woulda killed the guy had it not be for Hi Ken interfering."

"Edward's man?" McRae asked. Vaughn nodded. "Since when's he on their side?"

"That was my question, but I didn't get an answer. I did learn that Portgas doesn't have Newgate's box. He told the Marine dog that his son stole it. He's a Buggy Pirate, goes by the name of The Strong Man, Ed Divine. We find him, we find the box." She motioned for McRae to give her the flask. He made a face, but seeing that she was catching up to his age at last he handed her the whiskey.

"I feel right awful having lost Aide's piece. The Captain sounded so disappointed on the Denden." He frowned.

"He'll get over it. Last time I heard him on that thing he sounded a little…" Vaughn indicated to her head and twirled her finger around her ear.

"He's a little off," McRae agreed, taking the flask back. "Poor soul's got to be almost 90 years old, but still sane enough to know that this quest is important." He took another swig and leaned back for an early evening nap.

"Angus, what do you think's inside the boxes?"

"Treasure," he replied.

She rolled her eyes. "Well no kidding. What kind, you dummy."

"'The Greatest Treasure In The World'," he quoted. "Vaughn-chan, I really don't care _what_ it is. I just want to get at it. If Captain Roger said it was great, it must be great. If Captain Bolly wants it so bad, it must be amazing."

"You think Bolly knows what it is?" she asked, slightly amazed.

"If he does, he ain't tellin'. Now quiet, woman. I want to sleep."

She smacked at him with her wrinkled hand. "You old bastard! You'd think we were still married!" He waved at her dismissively, confident that she was too old to hurt him and he was too old and just dear enough to her to take his energy. Vaughn looked up at the sky and watched the stars start to pop. "I hope it's worth this wild goose chase…" she muttered and also settled in for a nap.

**.X.**

Clouds hung on as they sailed further away from Arabasta. Jones, Chisa and Iisopp busied themselves with the rigging as the winds changed direction. The Log Pose had locked on to the next island and according to Nami's maps they would pass by the Island of Palast and head for the larger island of Guraba some five day's sail away. Taka watched the distant shape of Palast on the northern horizon and shrugged before sitting down to a nap.

On the stern, Chanson chain-smoked and sulked. She was less than thrilled when the crew's doctor broke her contemplation.

"Can we talk?" he asked.

"No!" she replied.

"Chan-chan, we can't sail on the same boat and be like this."

"Then _leave_."

"…" Sakura made a soft grumbling sort of sound. "I hate to point this out, but I was here first."

Chanson snorted and finally turned around to face him. "Alright. Then what do we do?"

The relief that he felt as she finally faced him clashed suddenly and horribly with dread. "Please call a truce. If you're so mad at me for being… me, I'd rather have you treat me like a stranger than like someone who's betrayed you, which I don't think I have." He winced, expecting a torrent of anger from his former friend.

"Oh no?" She asked, flicking her spent cigarette over the side. "I'd call lying to me about your gender betrayal!"

"I never said I was a girl…"

She clenched her jaw and took a quick, deep breath. "You _let me assume_ you were a girl!" she shouted. Tears streamed down her cheeks. "I told that girl how I really felt about my fans, my family… I told her, not anyone else - not even Kleo - that Grampa Zeff trained me! I trusted that girl with my secrets and I find out she's nothing but a shitty fanboy! How could you do this to me!"

It started to rain. Sakura stood and looked down on the singer in shock. His mouth moved but for a moment, nothing came out. "I'm not…" he began, but corrected himself. "I'm Sakura. I'm sorry you can't deal with the fact that I'm male but I swear to you that I am nothing more or less than the person who wrote you those letters."

His words seemed to register. She stared into his soft, compassionate brown eyes with a look of utter heartbreak but her anger was too great. Chanson pursed her lips and blinked back her tears. "Yeah, well, all those things I told you in those letters… just… keep them to yourself." She stepped around him and stomped off in the direction of the women's quarters.

Sakura watched her go in silence. He had said all he could and although she didn't make up with him and call him by his name like he had dreamed she would have, she knew how he felt and even in her anger, he knew she understood. It was just incredibly disappointing that she didn't care for the truth. He felt his own tears finally come and turned his back to the wind and rain as the Ferris cut through the waves toward Guraba.


	24. Dein Ist Mein Ganzes Herz

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

**Part 4 of 4 in a saga**

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Twenty Four - Dein Ist Mein Ganzes Herz**

As their small craft cruised through the waves with the sails down and the dial-driven motor pushing it at 40 knots both McRae and Vaughn dozed peacefully in the ship's tiny cabin. A muffled twittering sort of sound roused the old woman and she looked around trying to locate its source. When she did, she let out a loud sigh and started pushing at her companion's shoulder. "Angus, you old fool, wake up!" she barked. "You're chirping!"

McRae grumbled as he was jostled from his nap. "We land yet?" he asked sleepily.

"No! You're making a weird noise. I can't sleep!"

He made a face at her but finally heard what she was complaining about and rummaged the Den-den Mushi out of his overcoat. Once un-muffled it sounded more like itself. He lifted the receiver and cleared his throat. "McRae," he said.

The voice on the other end was breathless and bright, a stark contrast to their captain's usual tone. "Where are you?" the Den-den Mushi asked with brows raised.

"Somewhere west of Arabasta following the trail of the Rogue Town brats," McRae answered.

"Good good. Did you manage to get the piece back?"

"No, Captain…"

"That's fine, that's fine. Just get here as soon as you can."

McRae and Vaughn exchanged puzzled looks. "I'm sorry, Captain. What did you say?"

"It's fine. Just come to see me as soon as you can."

"See you?" McRae asked again slowly, wondering what had caused the captain's sudden and almost unbelievable change of plans.

His captain's voice started to lose its light air. "_I mean get here as soon as you can or you'll miss the whole thing_." He insisted. "You're lucky I'm inviting you after you let the one piece we had slip through your fingers!"

"I'm sorry about that captain…" McRae began.

The captain ignored him again. "And if you see Van-chan bring her along, too."

"She's right here," McRae handed the Den-den Mushi to Vaughn but she waved her hands and refused to take it from him. "Go on, Van-chan. Say hi." he said, flashing his yellow teeth in a large grin.

"Ah! Van-chan!" the eyes on the communication device lit up. "It's been so long since I've see you! Isuru said you didn't have a very good time with Portgas D. Ace…"

McRae tried hard not to laugh but had to cover the mouthpiece when he couldn't hold it in. "It sounds as if you've got your _own_ shark on your tail," he teased her.

"Bloody hell. How did she get to the island already?!"

"Isuru is the fastest of all the Shark-men," McRae reminded her.

Vaughn gave a fake laugh and took the receiver, shooting daggers with her eyes at McRae. "Yes, I'm sorry to disappoint you, Captain, but it's _so_ good to hear your voice…"

"You don't have to call me that anymore. It's been forty years since I've lead anyone," he replied. McRae rolled his eyes. "Isuru is here and Kihi should be just behind you but he'll most likely overtake you, especially should you have to stop for supplies. Try not to linger. _As soon as all three of them get here it's going to happen very quickly_."

Both of the seniors in the boat shouted 'what?!' and McRae grabbed the mouthpiece from Vaughn. "What do you mean, Captain Bolly?!"

The Den-den Mushi grinned. "I mean that Kihi reported feeling strange vibrations while he was swimming along and my own piece has confirmed it. They're starting to sing with delight because they're drawing together!" Bolly's voice took on its usual rough, commanding tone. "So get your asses over here or you'll miss the show!"

**.x.**

The rain continued for what seemed like weeks with little break in the clouds even when it did let up. Trapped inside their cabins for the most part, the crew of six was drawn ever closer together. This was particularly awkward for Sakura and Chanson but she didn't stomp out of the room or slam things around like she had when she first got on board. Within a few days she'd even condescended to stop ignoring him completely.

One day at lunch Chisa was giving Chanson a hand when Sakura entered the galley. He debated turning around and going back out into the driving rain when she called out to him.

"Fanboy. Set the table."

His heart soared. "Ok!" he smiled and went to work. It wasn't much, but it was miles better than being totally invisible. Shortly, Jones joined them. Taka and Iisopp were left to tend to the sails in the high winds.

"Ah! Smells goooood!" Jones cried.

Sakura finished setting the table and sat down. Chisa sat beside him. "How's it look out there, Nii-chan?"

"Rough, but nothing this Carrack can't handle. It's significantly larger than Going Merry so I don't think we'll have a problem with rough seas."

"We're not going to Skypeia or anything are we?" The doctor fretted.  
Jones smiled. "Ha. I'd love to, but no. I want to get to the end as soon as possible. Maybe on the way back!"

"Nii-chan, don't tease," his sister scolded.

"Who's teasing?" he said and the grin widened.

Chanson ignored him as she put a huge bowl of pasta on the table. "Where's Ninja Girl and Dreadlocks?"

"Making sure we don't go off course," Jones replied eyeing the pile of pasta in front of him. Chanson folded her arms clutching a large metal spoon in one hand and tapped her foot. "What?"

"Whaddayamean what? Between you and your sister there won't be a drop of sauce left." She shook her head and spooned two portions out and stashed them safely by the stove. Jones laughed and let the worried doctor get his plateful before helping himself.

"How far are we from the next island, Jones?" Sakura asked.

"Map says another 250 leagues but with the storm it'll take longer. The next island is called Jaya," Jones said, the grin returning.

Sakura choked a little on his pasta. "That's the island under Skypeia…" he said.

Jones laughed raucously at Sakura's reaction and his sister scolded him again, using the opportunity to steal a few of the penne from his bowl while his eyes were closed.

Chanson sat down and ignored Jones and Chisa. "What's a Skypeia?" she asked.

Sakura was surprised that she had asked him a question directly. "It's an island in the sky that the Straw Hats visited. It's supposedly almost impossible to get to."

She narrowed her eyes. "So your dad told you everything, huh?"

He straightened up in his chair. "N-no! Actually. He thought it was too dangerous for my mother and I to be connected to pirates so he hid it all from us."

"Aren't you pissed at him for that?!" Chanson asked.

Sakura blinked a few times. "Not really. I'm sad I missed out on such an amazing story for so long, but I know that he just wanted to protect us." He deflated slightly as Chanson started playing with her food and sulking a bit. "If you want, you can read Iisopp's father's book. It's got the whole story in it. Except the end, which turned out differently."

Chanson shrugged her shoulders. In the mean time Chisa had sneaked away from the table and was moving in on Taka and Iisopp's bowls. Chanson threw her fork and it just barely missed the girl's nose before embedding itself in the wooden wall. "Pigtails, sit down!" she shouted and Chisa quickly obeyed. Jones laughed again.

**.x.**

The sun finally broke through the clouds just as they rounded the Jaya coast. Iisopp shouted and gawked at the façade of Montblanc Cricket's house as it came into view. With their spirits high, they weighed anchor and clambered to the little house's front door. Taka followed at a slower pace. When she got around to the front she was shocked to find their elation completely evaporated. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nobody home," Chisa said, pouting. The place looked like it had been abandoned for years.

Jones sighed. "Ah, well. At least we can get some supplies from the jungle and maybe even in town."

"I'll go into town," Taka offered and started heading north.

"Other way," Jones grumbled.

"Right." She turned about face and walked away.

Chisa perked up. "Town?! Where my dad clobbered that Hyena guy?!" She jogged after Taka. "Me too!"

Iisopp stopped sulking and looked to Chanson, Sakura and Jones. "Ok. Guess that leaves Sakura and me to look after the ship. Jojo and Chan-chan go see if there's anything worth taking from the forest."

Chanson scrunched up her nose. "Why me?"

Iisopp hooked a thumb at Jones. "You want _him_ to decide what's edible?"

"Right," she groaned and followed him into the jungle.

**.x.**

That evening the crew sat around a bonfire near the abandoned house and enjoyed some much deserved shore-leave. "Just think," Iisopp said, motioning to the nearly cloudless and star-filled sky above. "Twenty years ago our folks sailed into the sky _right here_!"

"It is pretty amazing," Chanson reflected, puffing on a cigarette. "And to think that all their kids would end up here together…"

"Well, almost all," Iisopp corrected her. "We don't have one of Zoro's kids and poor Nico Robin died at the end."

Chanson gawked at him before giving him an accusatory glare. "_She dies in the end_?! Way to spoil the frickin' story, jackass!"

He held his hands up defensively. "Sorry! I thought you knew!"

"Aw, man. That sucks!" she frowned.

"_Yeah_ it does," Jones agreed, poking the fire with a stick. "Our dad never forgave himself for that."

Chisa was busy playing with a huge Kabuto beetle. "For what…?" she asked distantly.

"Nevermind, Chisa." Jones continued to poke at the fire and an uncomfortable silence fell over them. Iisopp pouted and watched the girl carefully, but she was immersed in play.

"Hey, Pigtails, where'd Ninja Girl get to? I thought she went with you to town?" Chanson asked Chisa.

"She said she had something to look for and I wanted to go look for bugs!" she replied, holding the beetle up for her inspection. "His name is Emperor Funkenstein!"

"That's _great_," Chanson deadpanned. "How much you wanna bet she doesn't come back with supplies?" She turned her attention back to the others but they had already moved on to another subject. She shrugged and got up.

"Something I said?" Chisa asked, petting the beetle like a cat.

Chanson laughed. "No, kiddo. I'll be right back." She disappeared into the darkness, heading toward the ship.

When she returned a short while later, she had one of the mysterious boxes strapped to her back.

Jones raised a brow at her. "Whassamatter? It lonely?"

"No, Dingus." She made a face at him and set the box down. She unbelted the leather straps and opened the case. Everyone stood and gawked at the keyboards and tubes and pedals and buttons revealed as it yawned open. "This is what's inside Vincento," she explained. "He's a music box." She sat down at the little fold-out stool and hovered her hands over the keys of the middle keyboard. "I've never been able to play him before, but I suppose I can now." She formed chords and the sound of a symphony issued from the strange instrument. Chanson smiled as everyone was delighted by the sound. She played scales first to test it. She pulled levers and pushed buttons, astounded at the various sounds it could make. After a few minutes of this noise she stopped and played the first song that came into her head.

"_Frau Gorilla die hält still _

_wenn er sie mal küssen will _

_denn er will, ja dann willa _

_Mein Gorilla hat 'ne Villa im Zoo"_

_"Mrs. Gorilla keeps still_

_Those times he wants to kiss her_

_When he wants, yes then he wants to_

_My Gorilla has a villa in the zoo."_

_W. Jurmann, B. Kaper, F. Rotter_

Everyone laughed at the weird song about Mr. and Mrs. Gorilla and started making requests. Most of the songs Iisopp, Chisa and Jones knew were from East Blue. After the third or fourth unknown title Chanson turned to Sakura. Before she could ask him what he wanted to hear, she noticed Taka had appeared just behind him.

"Was that song by the Palast Orchestra?" the ninja asked, startling everyone with her stealthy skills.

"Yeah," Chanson replied. "My parents are big fans. They play our casino in Largo once a year."

Taka nodded. "Do you know 'Dein Ist Mein Ganzes Herz'?"

Chanson glared at her. The others looked from one woman to the other, waiting for what seemed like an inevitable fight. "You trying to kill me or something?" she asked. "That's one of Mr. Krähe's signature songs."

"Does that mean you can't pull it off?" Taka asked flatly.

Chanson's face went crimson. "No. It's written for a tenor, a male voice," she said with a devious grin. She flexed her fingers and tested the keys looking for the right violin sound for the song. "Why this song?"

"I like it," Taka said and seated herself near the campfire.

_"Dein ist mein schönstes Lied,_

_Weil es allein aus der Liebe erblüht._

_Sag mir noch einmal, mein einzig Lieb,_

_Oh sag noch einmal mir:_

_Ich hab dich lieb!"_

_"My most beautiful song is yours,_

_For it is created out of love._

_Tell me once more, my one and only,_

_Oh tell me once more:_

_I love you!"_

_F. Lehar, F. Loehner Beda_

The box fell silent. Chanson's well-trained voice didn't crack or waver as it trailed off. She let out a deep breath. "Not exactly a toe-tapper. Got any other Palast tunes you want to hear, Ninja Girl?" she asked.

The fire cracked and popped but Taka was quiet. She quickly turned her head away but not before Chanson spied tears flashing in the firelight. "No. You're no Rupert Krähe," Taka muttered. The singer smiled softly, satisfied by her tears and began playing something a bit more lively to distract the others.

_To be continued…_


	25. What Do We Do Now, Captain?

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

**Part 4 of 4 in a saga**

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Twenty Five - What Do We Do Now, Captain?**

After the relative disappointment of Jaya, the crew got back on board the Ferris and resumed the treasure hunt, heading for Water 7. They set off that morning after camping out on shore. Sakura prescribed some stretches to Iisopp who complained of a stiff back from sleeping on the hard ground. Jones teased him about spending the whole night trying to wiggle closer to his sister and Chisa scolded Jones, again. Taka let a soft, tired laugh escape. Chanson noticed this as she was absently staring at the crew and putting her hair up in two folded-over pigtails. She smiled and stepped closer to the ninja. She hid her mouth behind her hand as she lit a cigarette. "You're rather emotional lately…" Chanson commented.

Taka's smile fell. "Leave me alone."

The singer realized how off-putting that must have sounded and pouted. "Sorry. I'm not teasing you. Are you ok?"

Taka's brows came together and she stared into Chanson's green eyes. She remembered how Chanson's father Sanji had tried to comfort her back in Arabasta. His daughter looked quite a good deal like him (save the curly eyebrow) and the gesture was so similar in sentiment that it took her by surprise. This time, she relented. "A little homesick I guess, is all. You see, I'm from Palast."

Chanson couldn't hide her surprise. She opened her mouth to comment on how much she had liked visiting the autumn island when she went as a child but suddenly the world went away and she found herself inside a waking dream.

**x.x**

The light was similar: late morning and partly cloudy. The deck was perhaps three times as wide as that which she had been standing on, but it didn't seem she was standing on anything, rather floating somewhere at eye-level. There was a group of men, pirates by the look of them, around two other men. One was a gorgeous young man with dark shaggy hair and a half-open white shirt. He had a wide smile and sparkling black eyes. His friend was older. He had pink hair like Chanson's mother Harmony; full-bodied and curly unlike her own straw-like locks inherited from Sanji. He wore a sailor suit of white and tapped his foot to a beat. He sang a sea-shanty with a medium tempo.

_"Whiskey here, whiskey there,  
Whiskey almost everywhere!_

_Whiskey up and whiskey down,  
Whiskey all around the town!_

_Whiskey killed me poor old dad.  
Whiskey drove me mother mad!_

_My wife and I do not agree  
She puts whiskey in her tea!"_

In his hands he held a flute, but rather than put it to his lips, the pink-haired singer held it out at arms length and worked the keys. It played as if the wind itself were bending to pass over the mouthpiece. The dark haired young man clapped his hands to the beat and watched the flute carefully. He laughed when the notes didn't come out quite right. The men around them clapped along and stared wide-eyed at the spectacle. When it was over they cheered and clapped and patted both men on the back before going back to their jobs on the ship.

"Great job, Vincent!" the pink haired man took the flute in one hand and clapped Vincent on the back himself.

"When I know the song it's a lot easier!" he said. "I know when to stop passing the air over the mouthpiece. That song's a little too fast, though, Richard."

"Ah, if only I could control more than one instrument at once," Richard said, pocketing the flute. "With your help of course. We could make beautiful music together!" Vincent gave the pink haired sailor-suited man a funny look. "In a… completely platonic sense, of course."

"Of course!" he smiled. "I'll take any chance…" he said and his body swirled away in a whirlwind, reappearing on the man's other side. "To improve my Akuma no Mi ability."

Richard sighed. "You make me so jealous sometimes. To have the ability to lose yourself in the wind must be the greatest feeling in the world," he said as they walked toward the galley.

"'Lose yourself'," Vincent quoted. "That _is_ a danger. Sometimes I feel like I could just disappear. Pick up with the next storm and be gone." Vincent held a hand up and forced the air to blow at them from all directions of the compass and up, raising their hair. In a moment, Richard lost his footing on the deck and was pushed a few inches into the air. Gently, Vincent used his power to put the startled musician back down. "Just like that."

Richard looked a bit ruffled but ran a hand through his curly hair and adjusted the collar and tie of his sailor suit. "Wow," he said quietly. Vincent seemed to be waiting for a negative comment and watched Richard carefully. "Imagine how many flutes you could power with that!" He smiled at his friend and crewmate and went into the galley before him.

Vincent shook his head, smiled as well and followed.

**x.x**

"Hello?" Taka asked, waving her hand in front of Chanson's face. The singer blinked a few times and stared at Taka for a moment as if she were a total stranger. "Are _you_ ok?"

"Yes." Chanson said, coming to her senses. The ship moved further away from the Jaya coast. "Where's Jones?"

**.x.**

At that same moment in the vicinity of Water 7, a storm was brewing to the east. The island-city's mayor put a telescope to his eye and peered out at the horizon. "Shit, that storm looks like Aqua Laguna!" he observed.

"Wrong time of year for that, Pauly-san!" a young woman at his side piped.

"Ah. You're right, Chimney." he said, casually handing his beautiful green-haired assistant the telescope. "It's headed out, anyway. Man, I'd hate to be a sailor stuck in the middle of that monster!"

**.x.**

Chisa looked up at the black clouds that seemed to be racing toward them from the west. As she coiled a large rope on the deck, she pouted and turned to her brother. He was eyeing the same sky and absently looping rope on a cleat. "Nii-chan…"

"Yeah. I see it."

"Looks bad," she said, finishing her job and turning to face the darkness.

"_Is _bad. My head is killing me," Jones said, rubbing his thumb against the bridge of his nose. "Pressure's dropping. Get Iisopp and Taka on reefing the sails. We may have to drop anchor but I want to see what these winds will do."

Their resident ninja appeared behind him, startling both siblings. Chisa laughed and asked her to do it again. "What do you mean, drop anchor?" Taka asked crossly.

Jones listened to her, but was busy readying for the storm. "If we can't keep sailing, I'd rather not risk having the ship pushed back and dashed to bits against Jaya's rocky coastline!" Across the deck, Chisa and Iisopp scurried up the rigging to take the sails they had only put up a few hours ago back down. "Where's Sakura? Have him heave us to. We'll make it through the wind that's coming if we're pointed at it."

"Jones!" Chanson called as she saw him head for cabins. He didn't turn around. "Hey, I'm talking to you!"

"And I'm trying to save our lives!" he barked back. The wind chose just then to pick up and blow the singer's ponytails around her face. She turned and looked at the blackening sky in surprise.

Taka stomped past her. "Come on. We should make sure everything's nailed down."

The singer cursed but noting that some of the galley supplies hadn't been put away yet she hurried to do just that. She could hear Jones curse as he searched for Sakura. Chanson grew nervous and left Taka to batten the hatches herself. She found Sakura grasping the side of the ship which had started to toss in the building waves. "Fanboy!" she called. "Jones is looking for you."

He looked up. His face was the color of his grey-green tee-shirt.

"Oh, fantastic. The _doctor_ is _seasick_," she groaned and heaved a sigh. Chanson turned and ran to the wheel. "Jones! How do you do this?!" she shouted.

He was surprised to see her there and jogged toward her. "Actually, Chan-chan, it's gonna be ugly out here. Can you make us up something hot? Soup, coffee, something like that?"

She crossed her arms. "Trying to annex the bimbo to the kitchen?"

Jones blinked at her. "No. Trying to get our chef to make our crew some grub and raise moral. It'll help get us through the storm."

"Oh." She was totally disarmed by his honesty. "When you're done with this," she motioned to the chaos on the deck. "I need to talk to you."

"Ok." Jones jogged off to help his sister who was clinging perilously from the main mast and flapping in the wind like a flag.

**.x.**

Under brilliant blue skies McRae and Vaughn's dial-propelled ship chugged along due East. McRae fished off the stern and Vaughn reclined under the shade of the cabin's overhanging roof. "Catch anything yet?" she asked for the fifth time.

"If yer so hungry, eat some of those disgusting rations you brought," McRae grumbled back, also fairly displeased with not being able to catch anything while moving.

"I don't wanna eat it, you dern fool. I want to suck it!"

He turned his head and shot her a disgusted look.

Vaughn rolled her eyes. "Not like _that_. I want energy!" She stretched out her hands and made a grabbing motion to illustrate this. "I hate being old, don't you?"

McRae turned back to his fruitless fishing. "I've made my peace with my seniority. You should too, Van-chan. Even with that ability of yours." She scoffed at him but they were both distracted when McRae's line suddenly went taught. "Holy cow," he exclaimed and stood up. "It's a whopper!" Excitedly, Vaughn got up and stood beside him. The line reeled out until there was nothing left then pulled McRae down, threatening to suck the Akuma no Mi user into the drink.

"Hang on, Angus!" Vaughn cried and tried to hold on to him.

"What do you think I'm tryin' to do?!" he shouted back.

The creature giving them the trouble crested the surface with a whoosh of water, spraying the two elderly sailors. A long, scalloped yellow shape with two large, black eyes on either side nearly touched their noses and a maw full of spiny razor-sharp teeth grinned up at them.

"Boo!" the shark said.

The two elderly sailors stared at it, transfixed for a moment as if they had both had simultaneous heart attacks. Vaughn was the first to recover. "God _dammit_, Kihi! Don't do that!!"

The hammerhead shark-man giggled and grabbed on to the stern to let the dials which bubbled on either side of him pull him along leisurely. "Howzit, Mcrae! How you stay?" He grinned, showing off his smallish, but deadly looking teeth under his wide skull again.

"Fine…" McRae looked cross, but also wary of the shark-man.

"Wadda scoops? You going Tiburon, yeah?"

"We got the message from Captain Bolly and we're headed back, yes. We are on course, aren't we?"

"Yah, brah, but the surf ewa of Mizu Nana stay bamboocha. You shoulda _seen_ da waves. Da buggah wuz _pumpin'_!"

Vaughn scrunched up her nose and squinted at him. "Angus, what the devil is he saying?"

"He says there's one heck of storm west of Water Seven." McRae rubbed the back of his head. "Well, thanks, Kihi. We'll avoid it and arrive at Tiburon in about a week. Tell Bolly-san when you get there we're on our way."

The shark-man called Kihi smiled again. "K-den, I going hele. Aloha, Brah!" he chimed and splashed back into the water and swam under the boat and into the distance.

The two humans let out a sigh. "I still can't get used to shark-men being nice to us." Vaughn said, sitting back down under the shade.

"As long as Bolly-san is alive, they won't bother us." McRae looked at his fishing pole in disgust. "I just hope we're far from any of them when and if Bolly-san dies."

Vaughn scoffed. "I hope I die before you do, at least."

"Oh?" he asked, brightening.

"You're the only one besides Bolly-san who can translate!"

"Oh…"

**.x.**

The storm hit. Rain and high winds wracked the Ferris and it pitched and rolled violently. Sakura confined himself to the bathroom when he wasn't languishing in his berth in the men's cabin with his seasickness. Chanson served everyone else miso soup and rice with genmaicha tea (Sakura was given saltine crackers and some ginger ale). After changing his mind three times due to the ever-changing winds, Jones decided to spend a few quiet hours and wait for the storm to clear out.

It didn't.

Jones paced across the galley floor and everyone watched him. Sakura simply listened, his head on his folded arms, his stomach still fighting the rolling of the ship.  
"Alright, Jones. How's it look?" Iisopp asked as he leaned against the wall, his legs splayed to keep balance as the ship tossed fiercely. "It's been six hours and the storm seems to only be getting worse."

Chisa nodded. "It is getting worse, isn't it Nii-chan?" she asked, looking up from her spot on the floor.

"It isn't getting any better."

Taka scoffed. "Welcome to the Grand Line. Weird stuff happens all the time. The weather can change in an instant and it can tear ships apart if it wants to."

Jones continued to pace. "No. It's not the weather. Storms swirl, sure, but this…" he headed for the door and stuck his head outside. The wind blew the rain in and Chanson shivered. Everyone was surprised when Jones stepped outside and closed the door behind him. When he returned a few minutes later, soaked to the bone, his face was screwed up with concentration but he said nothing.

Iisopp stepped toward him, balancing his weight as he did against the pitch of the ship as if he were riding a horse. "What do we do now, captain?"

"I'm not the captain. You are."

"I own the boat. You're clearly a better leader than I am." Iisopp's mouth curved into a grin. "You know what's going on out there. What do we do?"

Jones pursed his lips. "The storm is wicked, but it seems we're stuck. I checked the current against the log pose an hour ago and the ship just keeps turning around. We can't ride this storm any more or who knows where we'll get to, if we don't end up getting sucked to the bottom of the ocean."

"Are you serious?!" Chanson cried.

"Unfortunately so."

"So what do we do?!"

He paused and looked to each face in the room, except Sakura, who seemed to be asleep. "Iisopp, you take the fore-mast. Chisa and Chanson will take the main-mast and Taka and I'll hop on the mizzen-mast and I'll try my best to navigate you through."

Taka made a face at him. "Then who's on the wheel?"

"I'll have to lash it down and we'll use the sails to steer with," he explained.

The sound of a chair moving across the floor drew their attention as Sakura stood. "Jones may take the wheel as he ought to. I'll assist Taka." His head hung low and his eyes searched the floor as if looking for stable ground.

Iisopp raised a brow. "You sure about this, Doc?"

Sakura took a deep breath. "You gotta do what you gotta do, right?" he asked, looking up with a sort of queasy smile. Jones clapped him on the shoulder and grinned. Together, the crew headed out into the storm to do their best.

Jones barked commands through the wind that were communicated from one mast-crew to the other as the weather dictated to him which way to steer. Hour after hour flew by with no change in the fierceness of the storm and the underlying current. Sakura seemed to find his groove, pulling the rigging and concentrating on something other than his stomach. After nearly nine hours of constant struggle, Iisopp shouted something that Jones could only just make out. Chisa heard him and shouted to Taka who shouted it to the captain. "Daylight, ho!"

Jones laughed and everyone cheered. In another hour they were clear of the storm and the wicked current. The Ferris sailed peacefully on light winds into the noonday sun and its crew collapsed onto the deck, exhausted.

_More to come…_


	26. Welcome to Guraba!

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

**Part 4 of 4 in a saga**

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Twenty Six - Welcome to Guraba!**

**  
**Iisopp was the first to wake that evening and he did so slowly as every muscle in his body ached from hours of hard work. He rubbed his eyes and listened to the sounds of voices and movement he only assumed were made by the rest of the crew. When he sat up and saw that everyone was still sleeping he leapt to his feet to figure out where the sounds were coming from. "Holy crap! Guys! Guys!" he shouted and ran around, prodding and in some cases kicking his comrades. "Wake up!"

"What's goin' on…?" Jones asked sleepily.

"Land!!" His friend shouted.

"You spied land?" He rubbed his eyes.

"You could say that…" Iisopp replied and pointed to the bow. The Ferris was anchored in a busy harbor. The island before them appeared to be densely populated and practically nothing but streets and buildings could be seen for miles.

Chisa pulled herself up and peeked over the side. "Uaa! We sailed to Water Seven in our sleep!!" she shouted. Laughter from below caught her attention and she leaned over the side to check it out, giving the crew a little fan-service in the process.

Bobbing on the waves alongside the ship was a small boat with a dark-skinned man wearing a bright yellow turban in it, grinning up at her. "Hahaha. You're a little off there, Missy. I saw your ship floating around a few leagues from shore and I though she was abandoned in the storm. When I saw you kids on board I towed you in and waited until you woke."

Jones stood behind his sister to protect her reputation. "You mean, this isn't Water Seven?"

He laughed. "No, my friend. This is Guraba."

Jones cursed and checked his log pose. The needle pointed in the opposite direction from the shore before them. "Well, how far from Guraba is Water Seven?"

The man laughed again. "Pretty far. Water Seven is on the South of the Grand Line. This is about as far North as you can go without hitting the Calm Belt."

"Fantastic," he groaned. "How long does it take for a Log Pose to reset here?"

"One and one half weeks." Yellow-turban grinned and held his outstretched hand in a gesture that was unfortunately all too familiar.

"Let me guess, you'd like to be paid for towing services rendered?"

He nodded.

Sakura, who had been checking out their cargo situation returned to Jones' side. "Nothing missing so far as I can tell," he muttered.

"How much does one usually charge to tow a Carrack this size?" Jones asked, wincing.

Yellow-turban smiled and nodded. "About two hundred should do it."

Iisopp grimaced. "I got one. Jones, you got the other half?" he asked, passing him a fistful of Berrie. Jones rolled his eyes, tossed the wad of bills to the man who bowed again and raised his sails. The redhead turned to his crew. "Alrighty then. Hopefully, we can find an eternal pose for an island further down the line here."

"Welcome to Guraba!" another voice called from the sea below. Everyone came to the side this time to see. The man in the yellow turban was sailing away and a man in a blue turban was rowing toward them.

Chanson lit a cigarette. "Ah, great. What now?"

As he came to a stop he stood up in the boat and bowed to them. He wore a badge on his long, tunic shirt. "How long will you fine young people be staying here in Guraba?" he asked, pulling a notebook out of his jacket pocket.

"Are we in trouble already?" Chanson scoffed.

Blue turban either didn't hear her or chose to ignore her. It was hard to tell which. "The harbor tax for a vessel this size is 300 Berrie a day."

Everyone boggled. "A day?!"

Sakura counted on his fingers. "That's three thousand Berrie if we don't find an eternal pose!"

"About two thousand more than we have," Iisopp muttered.

"All the more reason to find an eternal pose quick and get the heck out of here," Jones muttered back. "Who's got three hundred they can pitch in for the cause?" Chisa laughed. Sakura chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. Iisopp turned his pockets out. Chanson glared at him but grudgingly dug into her purse. The man in the blue turban thanked her and rowed to shore.

Chisa waved and watched the funny-looking man go then spun around to face her brother. "Nii-chan, how does the box feel about where we are? Is it a good place?"

Everyone stared at her. Taka blinked a few times. "That thing can… feel?"

Jones held up his hands, grinned sheepishly and prepared to change the subject but Chanson gasped and startled him as she grabbed his right arm. "Oh! Jones! I totally forgot when the storm hit." She faced him and gave him a very serious look. "I had a vision," she said slowly.

He seemed flustered but tried to hide it. "A vision? What do you mean?"

His sister snaked her way around him and stared up at him with a confused face. "A vision?!" She asked.

"Yes," Chanson answered gravely. "I was standing on the deck and then wham! It was like I was somewhere else, but I wasn't. I saw another ship and some pirates and I saw my Grandfather, Richard Sairen…!" She went on to tell them the gist of the waking-dream she had on the deck of the Ferris before they encountered the storm. "And I think that my music box is named after this Akuma-no-Mi-user-Vincent-person because Richard said that he wished he could power more instruments at once." She panted a little, having told the story as quickly as she could speak. "Did you ever have something like that, Jones?"

All eyes fell slowly on the captain. "I dunno…" He said, looking off at Guraba's coastline. "Maybe, but… I'm not sure."

Chanson clamped her hand on his arm again. "Did you see anything like I did?"

Jones suddenly wished he were onshore, perhaps sitting at a bar with beer in hand and no one boring holes through him with their eyes like his crew was doing right now. There was no avoiding it. He'd have to tell her. "Yeah. I saw Vincent, too, only younger." It wasn't the whole story, but the fact that Chanson had seen her grandfather whom she'd never known and he'd seen his grandmother who he had never known was a little too disturbing to him to share.

"So what do you think this means?" Iisopp asked, folding his arms.

Chanson crushed out the cigarette she'd been neglecting to smoke. "It means there's a connection between the two boxes through this Vincent person. I'm connected to mine through my grandfather who sailed with him. Jones, do you think you're connected to yours?"

"I stole mine," he said, avoiding the truth.

His best friend narrowed his eyes at him. "Yes or no, Jojo. I've known you long enough to know when you're full of crap."

Jones leaned against the side. "I just don't want to scare anyone."

Sakura shuddered. "Too late for that, I'm afraid."

The redhead sighed. "Yes. In my vision, Vincent was my grandmother's brother. I'm related to Vincent and if your vision indicates that the boxes were named for him, then that would explain the connections we have with them."

Chisa frowned and stared at him but said nothing. Taka nodded as if it all made perfect sense. "Is that how you can lug around something that's too heavy to carry as if it were nothing?" she asked.

Chanson nodded back. "Makes sense. My mom carried him sometimes. I never really thought about it. It just always seemed normal to me!" She laughed lightly. "She also talked to him which I thought was normal and now he talks to me."

Sakura boggled. "It can talk, too?!"

"Yeah, in fact, Vincento just told me that we're still on track, right Jones?" He nodded. "Both boxes are humming as if they're harmonizing the closer we get to wherever it is we're going." Chanson's face lit up as she got an idea. "Ooh! Hey, Jones, we should see if we can get them to navigate for us!"

Jones stared at her and clapped his hands together. "Well, it's getting late. We should split up to go ashore," he announced suddenly. "Half of us should stay on board to protect the ship and the boxes in case McRae shows up again."

"Good call," Iisopp agreed. "We don't have the Arabasta Royal Army to look after us this time," he said patting the main mast and watching his friend carefully.

"Sounds good," Chanson agreed. "I'm going ashore first." She headed for one of the two dinghies.

Taka followed her. "Me too."

Sakura made a run for it. "Women and sea-sick doctors first!"

Iisopp pouted. "Aw, man. Leave the people from East Blue behind, why don't you?" Too late. Chanson was already ordering Sakura and Taka to empty the dinghy of rain and seawater from the storm so that she wouldn't get soaked before they reached the pier.

Jones patted him on the shoulder. "Relax, Iisopp. We can go out once they come back. Besides. We owe Chanson 300 Berrie. Better to keep her happy for now!" He strolled over to the petulant singing-star and asked her kindly if they would get some supplies they hadn't gotten in Jaya for their trip. Iisopp huffed but kept his comments to himself.

**.x.**

Guraba was steep. Long avenues led the eye up from the short, stocky buildings of the waterfront business district to taller buildings in the hills. It was late in the day, but there were many shops still open. Colorful, vibrant fabric flags and banners flew from lampposts and street signs. The people who roamed the streets, like the two men they'd seen already, were dark skinned and auburn or black haired. Sakura, Chanson and Taka tied their dingy at the pier and went to look for a marketplace. With the sun just setting, they had another hour or two to get supplies before the shops closed.

Just after the pier there was a large welcome sign and a map of town for visitors. There were benches to either side of this for people to sit and watch the busy harbor. Taka scrutinized the sign, Chanson sat on a bench to the right and counted her remaining money and Sakura rallied the troops.

"Ok, everyone, we'll split up," he ordered. "Chan-chan you can cover food. I'll get the medicine and ammo. Taka, you take the miscellaneous list Jones gave you."

"Why do I get the hardest chore?" Taka complained as she realized the list would take her to many stores all over town.

"It's my feeling that you're the least likely to get distracted," Sakura noted. Chanson glared at him.

The ninja girl paused then nodded in agreement. "Does anyone else get the feeling that Jones is hiding something?" she asked suddenly.

Chanson lit a cigarette. "Probably, but I'm not concerned. Vincento says we're headed the right way, toward the end of the Grand Line."

Taka narrowed her eyes at her. "Why are you here?" The singer made an offended face at her. "I mean, why do you want to see this through? You didn't seem like you wanted to have anything to do with us when we were in Arabasta, but now you're not even questioning the fact that we don't have a clear destination."

Chanson shrugged. "I guess because I know my mother's music box isn't lying to me. And Vincento said something about a great treasure at the end of the line!" she grinned and rubbed her hands together.

Taka shrugged, turned and headed to the first of her various stops - a stationary store in which she hoped to find the paper Jones had requested. Sakura waved and he and Chanson headed in the opposite direction.

Men with long poles lighted streetlamps along the sides of the clay buildings as the sun set. On a bench to the left of the welcome sign and map, a boy sat and stared at the Ferris anchored a few hundred yards before him. His eyes were wide and he waited until the treasure hunters had gone before letting out a breath he'd been holding. "I don't believe it…" he muttered.

He didn't notice as a young marine approached him. "Ah, there you are Diego," he said in greeting. "The ship leaves in a few minutes. You should hurry on board, now."

Diego looked slowly up at the marine. He smiled deviously. "Thank you, but I've found another ride."

**.x.**

Just before the stationary store Taka spotted a small sword smith's shop. She looked in the window at a display of broadswords. "Yeah, I won't get distracted," she scoffed.

The door opened. The bell jingled. The shop owner called 'come again' to a customer as he left. "Thanks, old-timer," the customer said with a small wave. His head was shorn and a thin, green beard framed his jaw. He wore a long coat, a white shirt, black pants and a green haramaki. He slid a sword with a white hilt back in place next to two others on his hip. As he turned to the left he did a double take at the shop's window. "That's weird. Coulda sworn there was someone there," he grumbled.

**.x.**

It was getting dark when Sakura emerged from the last shop. He spied Chanson making her way toward him. "All done?" he asked.

She held up bags full of clothes, shoes and a few supplies. "Yep. Where's the Tomboy?" Chanson wondered. "I thought you said she wouldn't get distracted?"

"That's odd. Maybe she got bored and headed back to the ship?" He pushed his glasses up his nose and started walking with Chanson back toward the Ferris. They passed by the sword smith's shop just as he was closing up. A friend of the shop-owner's from the neighboring stationary store was chatting with him.

"You wouldn't believe who I had in the shop today, Bert!"

"Who, Kenji?"

"Roronoa Zoro himself!"

Sakura stopped in his tracks. "Excuse me, did you just say Roronoa Zoro?!"

"Yeah!" Kenji said, beaming. "He just wanted service on one of his swords. I got to check out the famous Wado Ichimonji, the Sandai Kitetsu and Yuna Shiri with my own eyes!"

"Ah! This is great! The guys will be so excited! Do you know where he is now?!"

"No idea." The sword smith shrugged. "He left about an hour ago."

Sakura turned to Chanson. "Alright, we can probably catch up with him!"

"Um, what?" Chanson asked, drooping a bit. "I am _tired_. Why do we have to go running around looking for this Roro-person?"

"He's one of the Straw Hats, Chan-chan," he told her. "Iisopp wants to get a copy if The Book to _all_ of them. Stumbling across his path is really lucky!"

"Whatever. I tell you what, I'll cover this area," she said, sat down on a park bench and lit a cigarette. From a few feet away a couple of people whispered and pointed at the pop idol. "Ugh. Or maybe not. Damn it, I should have brought body guards with me," she grumbled and followed the doctor.

**.x.**

Chisa and Iisopp watched Guraba through a telescope and remarked about the interesting things they saw in the fading light and discussed what they would do when they were allowed to go ashore. Jones approached them and patted them on the back. "Well. You guys have things under control," he said quickly and started walking away. "I'm gonna go see if I can't scare up some… stuff."

Iisopp's brow twitched in annoyance. "Hold it, Carrot-top. Whaddaya mean, _stuff_?"

Jones turned and gave him a pleading look. "Iisopp, I've been _so_ good this whole trip..."

Iisopp folded his arms. "No."

"And we owe Chanson 300 Berrie…"

"No."

"And we don't have enough to keep the ship here if we have to…"

"No!"

"Please!!"

"Jones. What part of 'no' do you not comprehend?!"

Chisa startled Iisopp by putting her hand on his arm. "Nii-chan won't get caught," she said simply. "It's ok. He's going to steal from pirates."

Outvoted, Iisopp slumped his shoulders. "And that makes it ok…?" he groaned. Jones clapped him on the shoulder and gave him what was supposed to be a reassuring grin. He lowered the other dinghy and slinked off under the cover of oncoming darkness to see what he could 'scare up'.

_More to come…_


	27. Did I surprise you, Otouchama?

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

**Part 4 of 4 in a saga**

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Twenty Seven - Did I surprise you, Otou-chama?**

Zoro trudged along, looking for a good bar. He turned a corner and stared down a dark, dead-end alley. "Shit. Lost again," he whispered. Something dark and fast swooped down from above so quickly that he barely had time to block the attack. A thin cut opened on his cheek. He sneered and pressed the Yuna Shiri against the attacker's short sword. A young ninja dressed in white with a white head wrap stared up at him. "What's this? An assassin? That's a refreshing change," Zoro said sarcastically. The ninja's eyes narrowed and it disappeared in a flurry of dust.

Zoro detected his attacker's chi and spun to block another attack. "You'll have to do better than these stupid tricks," he snarled and deflected the short sword. "And if you really want to kill me," he added. "You should go back to ninja school and…" he said, deftly slicing into the ninja's shoulder. To his surprise, his sword stuck into a garbage can.

Thinking the legendary swordsman was done for, the ninja leapt from above and behind him, blade drawn, wide open. Zoro had the Sandai Kitetsu in hand and ready as the ninja descended. The blade pierced the ninja's abdomen. Zoro grinned as he realized that this time he had actually struck his attacker. "As I was saying, you should go back to ninja school and learn how to emit some sort of killing intent," he finished as the ninja fell to the ground behind him. "You ever killed anyone before, kid? Probably not." He wiped the blood from his sword and sheathed it. "Learn your lesson. Come back when you can actually take me out, or next time I _will_ kill you."

The ninja curled up on her side and shivered. "Did I surprise you…?" she asked quietly.

Zoro stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder at the body on the ground. "What?" Her body relaxed as she lost consciousness. Zoro approached her and with trembling hands removed the wrapping that covered her face.

Sakura and Chanson happened to be passing by the entrance of the alleyway just at that same moment. Chanson gasped and pointed, shocked at the scene before her: the blood splattered on the ground, glistening in the lamplight and the strong man with the swords at his hip. Sakura took a step toward the victim. "Taka!" he cried. The large man with the swords was clearly a threat, but he decided against transforming, wanting to tell Chanson about his Akuma no Mi ability at a more appropriate time. Instead, the lanky, bespectacled doctor took a fighting stance and tried to look intimidating.

Zoro's eyes went wide. He looked from Sakura to Chanson and back down at the green-haired young woman from whose body blood was running around his bent knee. "Get a doctor!" he cried, much to Sakura's relief.

**.x.**

After a quick triage on the scene, Sakura confirmed that Taka's injury was not life-threatening but the young ninja had lost consciousness. Zoro appeared stunned, but managed to mutter than his hotel room was not far and that he wanted to help. They agreed that since they had a doctor available that they should take her there to treat her. The Innkeeper was a little suspicious of the scary-looking man that carried the girl into the lobby. They had wrapped her in Zoro's overcoat to hide her bloodstained clothes. "She's dead drunk," Sakura explained sheepishly as they passed by. The Innkeeper nodded, but didn't take his eyes off of them until they were up the stairs and out of sight.

Sakura dressed Taka's wound more effectively with shredded bed sheets then slumped into the only chair in the little room. It was a bit short and made his long legs bend gawkily. Zoro breathed a quiet sigh and lifted his eyes off of the girl in the bed.

"Why did you attack our friend?" Sakura asked quietly.

"I didn't. She attacked me."

"Any idea why?" he asked, not sure if he trusted the swordsman.

"She's pissed off at me 'cause I left her and her mom."

"Mom…?" he gasped. "You mean…?" Sakura's eyes widened. "She's your daughter?"

Zoro stared hard at the young people before him. "Maybe I'm hallucinating, but you kids look really familiar. My name is Roronoa Zoro. That mean anything to you?"

Chanson's mouth opened in shock for a moment then clamped shut. Sakura scoffed. "Incredible. So she was one of us after all. Chan-chan here is Sanji's daughter and I am Chopper's son," he explained. He raised a limp, tired hand. "Adopted," he added, knowing that Zoro would question how the Reindeer could have had a human son.

Chanson had been silent since first spying Taka's wounded form in the alley. At last, she was done mulling over the horror of seeing something so real and graphic for the first time. She decided that the situation presented to her was not at all to her liking and her face rapidly turned crimson. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!" she shouted at the legendary swordsman.

"Chan-chan, please be quiet," Sakura urged with brows pinched together in worry for his patient.

"Shut it, Fanboy. What the hell would posses a father to try to kill his daughter?!" she fumed.

Zoro scoffed. "You're _definitely_ Sanji's kid," he mumbled and stood up. "Look, I didn't try to kill her. If I had, she'd be dead. I don't kill punks who come after me anymore. It's a waste."

"How can you be so cold!!" she cried, a vein standing to attention on her forehead.

"Chanson!" Sakura shouted, using her full name for the first time. "I must ask you to be quiet. You're disturbing the patient and you're being inconsiderate of the circumstances." He pushed his glasses up his nose and frowned.

"Fanboy…"

"We should leave them alone for a while," he said and turned to go.

"But…!"

Boldly, Sakura put his hand on her shoulder. "It's ok. I trust Zoro. He was a Straw Hat Pirate. My father and yours both trusted this man with their lives. He didn't mean to hurt her." He cast a glance at the swordsman who frowned but nodded at him.

Chanson huffed and folded her arms, but did as she was told. The door clicked shut behind them and father and daughter were left in silence.

**.X. Flashback .X.**

Sharply angled, bright yellow leaves swirled down from huge trees lining a rough road. Just outside the town of Aki Harbor on Palast, an autumn island on the Grand Line, Roronoa Zoro walked slowly back home. He wore a light coat over his bare, scarred chest and a towel around his neck. Only one of his swords, the most precious one, was at his hip. He watched the leaves fall around him and took a deep breath of the crisp air. One of his brows rose at the sound of something rustling in the undergrowth. He continued on, unfazed. Fallen leaves to his left fluttered as if blown by an errant wind. Zoro unsheathed his sword and clashed with the attacker - a five year old girl. She wore a short, white yukata and flat wooden geta shoes. Her blade was short, but fitted her small stature.

"Did I surprise you, Otou-chama?" she asked, her black eyes sparkled in the sunlight.

"Almost!" he replied.

Disappointed, his daughter stood down and sheathed the tiny, pink, but still sharp and deadly sword. "One day, I'm gonna get you by surprise!" she yelled.

"I know you will, Taka." He grinned and tousled her sea-green hair.

She grinned back and jogged down the road ahead of him. "Hurry up, Otou-chama! Mom's making dinner!"

"Hai, hai," he said with a wave and watched her go. His face darkened once she was out of sight. "This sucks," he grumbled and slowly followed.

The scent of a thick, hearty pork broth greeted Zoro's nose when he approached the Tashiro Dojo - so named for its two sensei, Tashigi and Zoro. The names of a good two dozen students lined the walls inside the main practice room. Zoro strode by this and entered the house proper. He left his boots in the entryway and went to freshen up.

"There you are!" Tashigi chimed, craning her neck around the kitchen door. "Where have you been all day?"

"Waterfall," he said simply.

"Ah, training." She noted the towel around his neck. "Well, hurry up. Dinner's almost ready." She smiled at him and ducked back around the corner. He grunted in reply and took his time changing out of his wet clothes.

Just before entering the family room, Zoro paused and listened to the two females. Tashigi told Taka to help by putting out the bowls and chopsticks. The little girl chimed that she would take extra care with her father's place-setting. Zoro took a deep breath, did his best to un-furrow his brows and sat down to dinner.

A few hours later, Zoro leaned in the doorway of his daughter's room. He watched Tashigi tuck Taka in then followed her to their own room. Just before they were to get under the covers of the traditional futon they slept on, Tashigi, who hadn't said a word since dinner, approached Zoro and put her arms around his shoulders. "Please do not forget the one thing I asked you to promise me," she said. "Say good-bye before you go."

Zoro let out a slow breath. "How did you guess I was thinking about leaving?"

"You've been distant in the last month or so as if you've been slowly fading from view," she said, resting her head on his chest.

His arms folded around her. "You can tell me to stay…" he whispered into her ear.

She shook her head. "You'll always yearn for the dream you never got to fulfill."

Zoro never was a man of many words. Instead, he took her face in his hand and kissed her, passionately.

Just before dawn, Zoro woke Tashigi. She was shocked to find him fully dressed and armed. She jumped up and threw her arms around him. "I'm leaving," he said and embraced her for the last time.

Tashigi followed him down the hall. He entered the little girl's room. "Taka," he said, kneeling down and nudging her shoulder. "Wake up, Taka,"

"Mmm…" She stirred. "Otou-chama, is it time to run already?"

"No. It's early. I have to go."

"Go…?" she asked, sitting up and grinding a fist into one of her eyes.

"Yeah, I have to go defeat a certain man. I'll come back as soon as I do. I promise."

"You promise…?"

"Yeah," Zoro said quietly. He pulled the sleepy girl to his chest and hugged her tightly. "I'll run back so fast I'll part the sea." He released her and bowed to kiss her on the top of the head. "I love you," he whispered.

"Love you too, 'Tou-chama…" Taka said, yawning.

Zoro tucked her back into bed and picked up his swords. Tashigi held her hand to her face to hide her tears. She nearly lost her composure as she saw the tears on Zoro's face. He raised a hand as he passed. "Good-bye," he said and didn't look back.

**.X. End Flashback .X.**

_More to come…_


	28. They Call Me The Strong Man

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

**Part 4 of 4 in a saga**

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Twenty Eight – They Call Me The Strong Man**

As Jones had his fun cat-burgling neighboring ships, Iisopp did some investigating. He stepped down into men's cabins and leaned against the wall. He stared at the mysterious box across from him as if trying to divine secrets from scrutinizing it. Chisa walked in past him, ran a hand over its wooden surface and stared vacantly.

"So whaddaya think's wrong with Jojo?" Iisopp asked quietly.

Startled, Chisa looked up at him. "Huh? Whaddaya mean?"

Iisopp made a face. He loved her, but sometimes it was hard to tell whether Chisa played dumb or was actually dumb. "This treasure hunt. Usually we're on the same page about stuff, but I'm just not feelin' it. There's something about it he's not telling me."

Chisa pursed her lips and wiggled her nose a little. "Mmmm…" she hummed, not wanting to betray her brother. She decided quickly that since Jones hadn't asked her to keep secrets she could tell Iisopp the truth. "Niisan doesn't want everyone to think he's nuts so he didn't want to tell that he can hear it but now he's scared that things might get more dangerous and he's afraid he might put the rest of us in danger."

Iisopp raised a brow and stared at her for a beat. "He told you that?"

She nodded and fidgeted. "Not all of it. I figured out the rest when we were on Jaya. He said something about how Nico Robin died and how Dad never forgave himself," she recounted. "So I think he's afraid something like that will happen to him."

Iisopp sighed. "Well, that's alright, then." He pulled up a chair and sat down as if he was suddenly very tired. "I just sort of wish he trusted me."

"He _does_! He just…" Chisa began but stopped herself.

"He just _what_?" Iisopp rolled his eyes.

"There's someone on board…" she said quietly, staring intensely at the door to the little room.

A shiver went down Iisopp's spine and he bolted up out of the chair. "What?"

"Just now, the box said there's someone coming."

"I thought you said Jojo was the only one who can hear it?"

"I dunno! All of a sudden I can hear him and he's freaking out about it!" Chisa exclaimed, just as confused about it as Iisopp was.

Iisopp read the emotions communicated from the mysterious box playing out across Chisa's face and drew his favorite guns. "I'm ready for whoever it is!"

From the doorway they heard a short gasp. "It's ok!" a voice called and the door creaked slowly open. "I'm harmless." Standing with his hands over his head was a young boy with black hair in a bowl-cut style. He wore khaki shorts, a tee shirt with another short sleeved unbuttoned button-down shirt over it and a pair of clean, new-looking construction worker boots. Over his shoulder and across his chest he wore a large messenger bag. Iisopp let out a long sigh and stopped aiming for the kid's heart. The boy was as pale as a ghost and stared at the guns apprehensively.

"You lost or something, kid?" Iisopp asked, in no mood for pleasantries.

"I believe I'm found, actually." He took a deep breath and put down his hands. "This is the Ferris, isn't it?"

Iisopp made a face. "Yeaaah…"

The boy smiled. "I can be of assistance to you and your quest. I know a bit more than you do about that device in the corner and I'd like to help you achieve your goal."

"_Really_?" Iisopp asked cocking his head to one side.

"Really." The boy's voice was young in timbre but old in turn-of-phrase. He closed the door behind him and lifted his chin, growing more confident as Iisopp further lowered his weapons. "I am a scholar with the World History Academy."

"A scholar? Don't you mean student?"

"_Scholar_," he corrected. "I handed in my dissertation just a few weeks ago. I'm a fully accredited Doctor of Anthropology."

Iisopp turned to Chisa and rolled his eyes. "You get this, Chisa? Kid thinks he's a…" He stopped as he noticed the concentration on his friend's face. "Chisa?"

"I think the box says that ain't the guy we need to worry about." She raised her hand and pointed at the door as a set of heavy footsteps descended the short stairs behind it. "That is."

The guns came back up and aimed at the center of the door and the heart of whoever was approaching. "Get behind me!" Iisopp hissed. "You too, kid." When the boy didn't respond, Iisopp glanced over to find him shaking slightly with fear. "I said get behind me!" he cried and shoved the kid by the shoulder. He stumbled a few feet behind Iisopp. "The people after this box thing are strong and evil, or don't you know that already?" Chisa caught the kid before he crashed to the floor and together they stared at the door. The footsteps stopped and a terrible silence filled the room, broken violently by crashing splintering wood as the intruder kicked in the door. He looked surprised in a casual sort of way and retracted his booted foot from the space where the door had been. "Oh, I shoulda knocked, huh?" he said with an evil smirk that stretched practically from ear to ear. Hidden mostly in the shadow of the door way, the three couldn't quiet make out the large something strapped to his back. He was a few inches shorter than Iisopp but his bare chest was muscular and his left arm bore two tattoos: a tribal design of some form and a skull-and-cross bones just above it that made Iisopp's dreadlocks stand on end.

"Great, another Lost Pirate!" he groaned.

"Oh, I'm not lost. I'm just trawling for anything that's not nailed down." He saluted them with a flick of his first and middle fingers. "They call me The Strong Man, Ed Divine of the Buggy Pirates." Iisopp's jaw hung loosely open. He knew all about Buggy from Luffy's stories about the crazy clown pirate. Divine's eyes scanned the room. "Holy crap…" he mumbled and walked past Iisopp toward the box in the corner. "I don't believe it." On his own back he toted an identical wooden box.

"Stay away from him!" Chisa shouted, getting to her feet and rushing over to protect it.

Iisopp moved his body in front of her and clutched his guns tighter. "Get away from that!" he shouted and wondered why the intruder didn't even seem to see the 9mm's.

Divine raised a brow and turned to face Chisa. "_Him_?" he asked, completely ignoring Iisopp. "Don't tell me you can hear his voice?" Chisa clammed up but her silence was enough for Divine. "Awesome. I'll take you and your box." He pushed Iisopp aside, wrapped an arm around Chisa's waist and lifted her a few inches off the ground. She kicked and flailed her arms but nothing seemed to have an effect.

"Put her down or I'll shoot!" Iisopp shouted.

Slowly, Divine turned and gave Iisopp a look that said 'oh yeah?' over his shoulder. He laced his free arm through the leather straps of the box and with only a little effort hefted it up next to the one he already carried on his back. Iisopp growled and fired three rounds at the intruder. To his shock they ricocheted off of him. Two slugs embedded in the wooden walls and the third whizzed by the cheek of the boy huddled in the corner. He shrieked and clapped a hand to the wound.

"Aw, look what you did!" Divine scolded. "Think you're a tough guy with those pea-shooters, eh?" He lifted his left leg and stomped it down on the floor with a resounding thud. The three watched in fascination and horror as the wood crackled, turned grey and encased Iisopp's feet in solid stone. "Stay put, ok?" Divine recommended.

"No way…" Iisopp dropped his weapons to the ground. "Akuma no Mi user…"

"Logia!" Divine added. "Iwa Iwa no mi." With Chisa and Jones' box in hand he left the room. The boy in the corner whimpered slightly as blood dripped from his cheek. "Hey kid," Divine called out to him as he went. "Don't sweat it. It's just a flesh wound."

"Chisa!" Iisopp screamed.

"Tell Chan-chan to follow us!" she called back enigmatically. The footsteps disappeared and they were left in silence.

Iisopp's chest heaved with anger and from straining against the stone binding his feet. He hung his head and let his dreadlocks hide his face. Only the boy's whimpering brought him back to his senses. "Hey kid…" he began. "What's your name?"

"D… Diego…" he answered meekly.

"Diego, go find something heavy to whack at this stone with. We gotta find the others and chase after this Divine."

"How… how are you going to do that?" he asked and started searching the immediate room for the right tool.

"Chisa's a lot smarter than she looks." Iisopp smiled. "She told me how on the way out. We've got more than one of those boxes and they talk to each other. Chanson will be able to direct us to follow Jojo's!"

**.x.**

Light from a streetlamp filtered in through the flimsy curtains. A small table lamp provided a soft, orange glow. "I know you're awake," Zoro's baritone rumbled quietly from his seat against the wall. Taka stirred, turned her head away from him and opened her eyes. "Is that why you attacked me?" he asked. "You're mad?"

"I hate you," she hissed.

Zoro closed his eyes as if her words were too bright. "I don't know what to say to you."

Taka's face was in shadow. "You never even said good-bye," she spat.

Zoro stood up. "Yes I did."

"You did _not_! I woke up one morning and you were gone and mother never said a word about it, ever!" she shouted. Her composure fell and she choked out her words through the start of tears.

"I woke you up!" Zoro shouted back. "It was before dawn. You asked me if it was time to go running. I said I had to go defeat someone…" he trailed off as he realized that his daughter was more like him that he had remembered. "Oh, shit. You were asleep. You were talking to me and you hugged me but you were _still asleep_…" He took a step toward the bed. "Taka, I would never have up and left you. Leaving you behind was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I'm sorry."

Taka shivered. "You're sorry?" she asked, head still turned away.

"Very sorry, Taka."

"Damn it. This isn't how it was supposed to be. I was gonna wound you, show you it was me and tell you off for leaving. You weren't supposed to apologize!" Taka broke down and bawled like a child. Zoro sat down on the edge of the bed and waited. "I missed you so much…" she sobbed. "Why didn't you come home?"

"Because once I defeated Mihawk, punks from all over sought me out to defeat me. Most of them were nothing, but some were real nasty. If they found out where I lived, found those I loved and all those kids we taught, they could have used that against me. They could have hurt you. I couldn't let that happen."

Taka caught her breath and slowly sat up, trying not to wince in pain as she did. She stared at her hands, folded in her lap. "So," she asked, looking up at him at last. "Did I surprise you, Otou-sama?"

Zoro smiled on his daughter. "Yeah, you sure did." She lunged at him and he embraced her for the first time in 13 years.

**.x.**

Chanson paced up and down the short hall and chain-smoked. A grey haze drifted through a sconce across from Sakura who leaned against the wall. Occasionally he tried to catch her eyes but gave up and muttered something again about trusting Zoro. She scoffed. After a few tense moments the door opened and Roronoa Zoro emerged.

"She's sleeping," he explained. "She'll be alright."

"Were you able to speak to her?" Sakura asked.

He nodded. "It's all my fault, but she's ok." He mimicked the doctor and leaned against the opposite wall. Chanson stopped pacing to light another cigarette from the cherry of the one she just finished. "You must be worried about Taka," Zoro said with a smile. "Your dad was just like that." He motioned to her right hand.

Chanson crushed the old butt out in a sand-filled receptacle at the top of the stairs and glared at him. "Yeah, well…" she muttered and mechanically ashed the fresh one onto the floor.

"What are you three doing traveling together, anyway?" the swordsman wondered.

"It's more than just us." Sakura pushed off the wall and stretched. He explained the story as he understood it. That Jones and Iisopp had left East Blue to take Usopp's book about the Strawhats to the rest of the crew but that they had found something interesting in Rogue Town that extended their trip, perhaps all the way to the end of the Grand Line.

First, Taka had joined them without informing them of her relation to Zoro, then they stopped at Sakura Island and picked Sakura up. From there, they sailed on to Arabasta where they were caught up by Chisa. In Arabasta, Chanson stowed away with her own mysterious box and here they were. "And everything would be going just fine if we hadn't run into this creepy old pirate named McRae who Jones stole the box from." He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his coat.

"McRae?"

"Yeah. He said he was with the Lost Pirates. Does that ring any bells?"

Zoro's eyes widened in disbelief. "Are you joking?"

Chanson crushed out her cigarette but didn't light another. "Why? You've heard of them?"

Zoro frowned. "I'm coming with you." He announced.

Sakura clenched his teeth. "It's_ that bad_?!"  
"_Very_ bad," Zoro added. "Was he really old, this guy?" They both nodded, staring at the experienced former-pirate. "The Lost Pirates are the remaining members of Pirate King, Gold Roger's crew, the most feared and renowned pirates in the world."

"Oh, boy…" Sakura whispered and leaned against the wall again for support.

"Wow, is my dad going to freak when he hears that!" Chanson said with a short laugh. "But if we have you with us we're even, right? You were a member of the Second Pirate King's crew, after all."

Zoro didn't care about his status or he simply didn't take the compliment. Either way, this fact didn't seem to matter to how he felt about McRae. "When Taka wakes up take me back to your ship."

The door opened and a sleepy-looking ninja, already dressed and ready to go, blinked at them. "You lot are far too noisy…"

"Sorry!" Sakura looked sheepishly at the very patient whose peace he'd tried to protect when Chanson had her earlier outburst.

She waved them off. "It doesn't surprise me about McRae," she said, pointing to the stitches on her upper arm. "He's got a troublesome Akuma no Mi ability."

Zoro's eyes narrowed and Chanson and Sakura stepped back a pace from the force his willpower radiated. Taka noticed this and stared at him, wide eyed. "I'll kill him," her father muttered, glaring at the wound.

"Holy crap, I'm glad he's on our side…" Sakura whispered to Chanson who nodded slowly.

**.x.**

When they arrived at the Ferris, Taka, Chanson, Sakura and Zoro found Iisopp pacing the decks, waiting for them. He launched into his story about being attacked and losing the box and Chisa and spoke so quickly that he could hardly catch his breath. The terrified young newcomer stood just behind him, staring hard at the others. "…and the kid helped me outta the stone boots and here we are!" he gasped. "And who are you?"

Taka, who understood the gravity of his words but was as cool as ever answered, "Iisopp, this is my father. Roronoa Zoro."

Both he and the black-haired boy at his left gaped at the swordsman. Iisopp's shoulders relaxed a little. "Zoro! Dude, that is _such_ good news!"

"Where's this pirate now?" Zoro asked touching the hilt of his swords.

"No idea. We can't go yet anyway. Jones isn't back."

As if on cue the redhead called from the dinghy below. Hurriedly, they hoisted it up and pulled him onto the deck. He had a sack over his shoulder and a broad smile on his face. "Aw, come on, Iissop. It's not that bad! I made out real good and no one saw me, promise!"

"It's not that," he answered darkly. "A pirate boarded while you were out. He took your box and your sister."

Jones' eyes darted across the faces around him checking to see if this was just a terrible joke but they were in agreement. This was real and very serious. "Where is he now?" he asked grimly.

"Gone." Iisopp growled, clearly blaming himself for her abduction. "But Chisa said we can use Chanson's box to follow them."

"That's my sister…" Jones grinned slightly. "Chanson, get your Vincento up to the bridge. Sakura, Iisopp, and Taka, set sail!" He turned to the newcomers with the same urgency. "Who are you?"

Zoro raised a brow. "I'm Zoro. I'm here to help you fight the pirates."

Jones blinked a few times. "No shit? That's awesome! Can you help with the rigging for now?"

The swordsman grinned back at him. "You sure you're Luffy's kid?" he asked, heading off to help Taka.

"I'm also Nami's kid!" he added. Zoro let an astounded 'what?!' fly as he joined the team and raised the sails.

Jones addressed the last one left. "You, kid. Who are you?"

He was watching Zoro go and was startled when Jones called to him. "Ah! I'm Diego. I'm here to help." Jones raised a brow at him. "I know that there are four of the boxes you've managed to collect, among other things…" When Jones gave him a funny look he repeated, "_I'm here to help_!"

"Alright, then. Ever sailed before?"

"N-no sir!" he piped.

"Ugh. Um… Go see if Chan-chan needs help, then. Otherwise, stay out of the way." He hurried off to the helm and barked orders at the crew as they brought the Ferris about. Chanson brought her box up, relayed the heading from it to Jones and soon they were off, sailing after Chisa's captor, hoping to gain on him with their massive but speedy ship.

_More to come…_


	29. This Might Come In Handy

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

**Part 4 of 4 in a saga**

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Twenty Nine - This Might Come In Handy**

When the course had been set, the crew of the Ferris retired to the Galley and sat in an awkward silence together. The ship rolled on fairly choppy seas and wind howled through the cracks in the doorway. Finally, Iisopp broke the ice by slamming his fist onto the table.

"Damn it!" he cried. "I couldn't do anything to stop that monster!"

Chanson calmly lit a cigarette. "Don't beat up the table, it didn't do anything to you."

"The shots just bounced off him…" Iisopp moaned, pulled out his favorite 9mm's and disassembled one of them on the table.

Zoro raised a brow at the sight of such firepower. "You said he was Logia, right? There isn't much _anyone_ could have done against that. You're lucky you're alive." His words did no good for the morose marksman who methodically cleaned his guns and muttered to himself.

His daughter folded her arms. "Do you think he could be cut, Otou-sama?"

Zoro grinned. "We'll find out, won't we?"

The ship's captain didn't seem as despondent as his best friend was about the situation. He approached Chanson and asked her to make them some good food to raise their spirits and she set to work. "And can I get a bowl of hot water?" he asked. She looked at him funny but gave him what he wanted. Jones took the bowl and sat down at the table.

"So this guy was a pirate?" Zoro asked, but Iisopp was too engrossed in his cleaning ritual and self-loathing to answer. Instead, the other witness piped up.

"Ah, yes." Diego raised his hand slightly to indicate he would answer. "He declared himself to be The Strong Man Ed Divine of the Buggy Pirates."

Zoro groaned. "Buggy… That imbecile's still around?"

"Apparently," Diego concurred. "But this young man was alone."

As they discussed the situation, only Sakura, plagued again with motion sickness, paid any attention to what Jones was doing. He pulled something from a brown paper bag and placed it in the bowl of hot water. It didn't look like anything edible, rather like a clump of tar or a squashed felt hat of some kind. The doctor watched, but his stomach forced him to keep his mouth closed.

"You got any Akuma no Mi users on board?" Zoro asked.

"Only Sakura," Taka answered.

Diego jumped as Chanson dropped a plate she had meant to put on the table and it shattered. "What?!" she cried.

Sakura rested his head on his arms. "Yeah. I do. Sorry. Meant to tell you. Waiting for the right moment..." The color of his face seemed locked in battle between the green of sickness and the red of embarrassment.

"Well, what kind?!" Chanson demanded.

"Zoan. Caribou. Rumble ball…" he muttered, only able to get a few words out without vomiting.

"That's nostalgic," Zoro said. "You've got a chef, a swordsman, a thief, a gunner, a doctor who's also a deer… sounds like Straw Hat Pirates: Part Two!"

Some of them smiled at the compliment. Jones, however muttered, "we're not pirates…" again, his attention distracted by the tar-lump-hat thing in the bowl which was increasing in size and turning the hot water a rather unappetizing shade of brown.

Sakura's head shot up and he sniffed strongly. He glared at the thing. "Is that…?!" he began, but he clamped his hands over his mouth and dashed for the door. In his wake, the smell the lump was giving off reached everyone else.

"Oh, what the hell is that?!" Chanson cried, pinching her nose and stepping away from the table.

"Is it a dead animal?" Taka wondered, doing the same.

"Nope," Jones answered, not taking his eyes off it as it expanded. To everyone's horror he picked the dripping lump up, made a determined face, nodded once to himself and took a huge bite out of it. The thing squelched and some of its juices squirted out onto the table, sending Diego and Iisopp scrambling, knocking over their chairs as they went.

"Jojo, what are you doing?!" Iisopp shouted.

Jones looked as if he was going to join Sakura for a moment, but he squeezed his eyes shut and swallowed painfully. "Oh, gross!!" he bellowed.

Iisopp boggled at him. "Well, duh! Your nose broken or something?! That thing smells like road kill!"

"Vomited Udon," Taka added.

"Compost pile." Zoro grimaced.

"Rotten seaweed," Diego muttered through the hand over his nose and mouth.

"_Not something edible_!!" Chanson agreed. "What is wrong with you?!"

Jones stood. "Dunno yet." Before anyone could berate him further, he hiccupped once and fell through the floor.

There was a brief pause before everyone panicked.

Zoro tried to handle the situation. "Just calm down!" He shouted. "I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for this…"

As if in answer, Sakura returned, wiping his mouth from his trip to the side of the ship. "Is that an Akuma no Mi?!"

**.x.**

In the hold Jones took a deep breath and tried not to panic. His arms rested on the floor and his lower half trailed along in the water underneath the ship. "Ok," he reasoned. "That wasn't good." He tried to relax but slipped another inch through the wood. "Nope. That doesn't work." His next step was to scream for help but it was unnecessary. The sound of pounding footsteps made his heart soar. The rest of the crew was astounded to find him in such a predicament but Zoro was easily able to pull him free. The young man stood and panted with his arms spread, waiting to see what happened next.

Iisopp introduced him to the Fist of Love. Hard. "Dumbass! What were you thinking?!" he shouted at his best friend.

"I found it. I ate it. You jealous?"

Iisopp's jaw dropped. "No! You were just…" he pointed to the bottom of the hull.

"Yeah. I didn't know what the power was when it activated. I almost drowned!" Jones laughed and was smacked again. "I wonder which fruit it is?" he wondered, ignoring Iisopp's violence.

"It's the Pass-pass no Mi," Diego informed them. "It was thought to be one of the last devil fruits still unconsumed. I suppose we can check that one off the list, now."

Jones grinned. "What does it do?"

"Well, I think that's obvious," Diego replied in a slightly snooty tone. "You can _pass_ _through_ things."

Jones ignored his tone of voice and reached out to the nearest object: Iisopp. First he put his hand on his shoulder. Then, he brought it down as if to karate-chop him and the arm passed right through. "Hot!!" Jones cried.

"_Weird_!!" Iisopp shivered. "Man, don't _do_ that!"

This sent Jones into peels of laughter again and he lead the others back up to the decks. "This is awesome. I was kinda hoping for a Logia or a Zoan or something I could kick some ass with, but I guess this might come in handy."

Zoro shook his head. "That's really weird. You really are really a mix between Luffy and Nami…"

The compliment made Jones grin to split his face. "Wait till you meet my sister."

**.x.**

The Emerald, a small single-mast ship, sailed along at a good clip, propelled by strong winds filling a single, oversized sail. Its captain, the young pirate Ed Divine stood at the bow and watched the still darkened horizon through a telescope. Dawn was just turning the sky behind them pale purple. "Well. I dunno where these things are taking us," he said, patting one of two large, wooden boxes sitting behind him. "But I can't wait to see where we end up."

He grinned slyly and looked to his hostage. Chisa sat on her folded legs at the stern and looked up at him with a severe pout. Her ankles were cased in stone and bonded to the deck.

"What's the matter with you? You're alive, aren't you?" The girl with the pig tails stuck her tongue out at him but said nothing. Divine laughed and approached her. "How old are you? Thirteen?"

"_Four_teen!" she corrected him.

"_Fourteen_!" Divine laughed again. "I'm Sixteen."

"Oh yeah? My brother's _seventeen_, and when he gets his hands on you…" she threatened.

Divine pouted slightly and leaned down toward her, turning his right arm to stone. "He can get his hands on _this_ all he wants. He won't like it."

Chisa scoffed. "My brother could run circles around you and outwit you any day! He doesn't need any stupid Akuma no Mi!"

"Stupid!" Divine cried. "This is a Logia ability, girly-girl. Lo-gi-a!" He flexed again, the stone mimicking muscle movement with a sort of crunching sound. It changed shape from a fist to a large mallet and back again.

Chisa put her nose in the air and turned her head to watch the water swirl in the ship's wake. "Whatever. My brother could still…"

"Would you shut up about your stupid brother?!" A vein pulsed over Divine's left eye. When she made to speak again he growled and grabbed her by the shirt. "If you don't shut up I'll toss you into the drink!"

Chisa grinned. _'This is it,'_ she thought._ 'Once I'm away from him I can catch up with Nii-chan and the Ferris easy!'_ "Go for it!" she chimed.

"No. I tell you what. Why don't we even the score?" he said evilly and pushed her back against the bow. To Chisa's surprise, he didn't attempt to molest her. He went to retrieve something from the little cabin, instead. She craned her neck to see what he was up to but didn't have long to wait. Divine returned with a small treasure chest which he placed before her and handed her the key. "Go ahead. Open it."

She looked at him as if he had just sprouted another head but did as she was told. The chest opened easily and Chisa blinked at the contents in disbelief.

Divine did not expect her to laugh. "What's so funny?!" he barked and grabbed the box from her. Inside was a piece of paper that read 'Thanks!' and had what looked like an orange with a tongue-wagging face drawn on it.

"Whatever was in there must have been really cool!" She laughed and waved the note in Divine's steadily reddening face. "'Cause my brother stole it!"

Divine was obviously not amused. He stood very still and shook slightly with anger. Chisa was ready for him to free her from the deck and toss her into the ocean but when that didn't happen she stopped laughing and stared at him. He was looking not at her, but off into the horizon behind them. Chisa turned to see if the Ferris was catching up but there was nothing there. "Hey, Divvy?" she asked, taunting him. "Hello?"

At first, Divine figured he must be succumbing to lack of sleep or heatstroke or something, but the images that echoed in his mind were too cohesive to be a waking dream.

**.x.x.**

The ship in his vision was huge, the size of which he'd never seen. It was black and had four masts from which the tallest flew a Jolly Roger that he didn't recognize. On its deck stood the Old Man himself, Edward Newgate, clean-shaven and much younger than he remembered. Newgate laughed heartily at something one of his comparatively diminutive nakama said. "Don't that beat all!" he bellowed.

"And to think that the gold we took was only a fraction of what was up there!" a man with a black pompadour hairstyle pointed out.

"Aye, James. To think," a pink-haired man in a traditional white sailor suit agreed. "I can hardly wait to reach the next port so we can spend it. I need new strings for just about ever instrument I own."

"You bet you do, Richard!" A tall (but still short compared to the gigantic Newgate) green haired man with a bushy green beard agreed. "You nearly played a hole through that violin of yours that last night up there!"

"I guess I did, Albert," Richard Sairen agreed and smiled sheepishly.

"What are you gonna buy, Eddy?" The man with the pompadour called James asked the giant.

He looked left and looked right then bowed toward the other three and motioned for them to come in close. "I thought I'd get somethin' nice for Vincent," he tried to whisper. The other men grew solemn but nodded their heads in agreement.

James Aide scratched his head. "But what kinda present do you get for the son of the Pirate King?"

They grumbled about this for a moment before a voice called from the ether. "Please, guys. I don't need anything…" Just above them on the roof of the highest deck a small whirlwind developed and a young man materialized and seated himself on the ledge.

"Aw, Vinnie, Eddy was just thinkin' of ya, that's all," James tried to explain.

"I know, and I thank you all for being so kind," he said softly and coughed a few times. "But what good are material possessions to me at this point? What I truly cherish is your friendship."

Edward Newgate, the giant, who would be later known as White Beard and feared in his prime as the strongest pirate on the Grand Line, wept. "Oh! Vincent!" he wailed. "Damnit, I wish there was something we could do!!"

Vincent looked left and looked right. "Father is trying to think of something…" he said quietly.

This soothed Newgate. "Then there's hope for you?" he asked brightly.

"Could be, Edward. Could be." Vincent smiled and let his ability swirl his being back into the air.

**.x.x.**

Chisa was leaning as far forward as she could, poking at Divine with the note Jones had left in his treasure chest. "Hello? Divvy?" she chanted.

He shook his head as the vision cleared and her voice calling 'Divvy' finally registered. "My _name_ is…!" he began then blinked down at her. "…Ed Divine."

Before he could remember that he had been infuriated with the little girl with the pigtails she blinked up at him with a soft, casual expression and asked, "did the box just show you something?" she asked plainly.

The pirate sat down in front of her and his brows came together, but he was calm. He nodded. "I dunno what this Vincent person had to do with my old captain, but I think somehow it's something really important."

Chisa nodded. "Nii-chan and Chanson had them too. Vincent was in their visions and so were people they knew."

The look on his face was familiar; the look of confusion her brother had when he first told her about his own vision. "Who is Vincent? What does it mean?"

She wondered if she should tell him anything more. He seemed nice now that he was calmed down, but he was still her captor. She pursed her lips and shrugged. Divine sighed and looked at the western horizon. "Well, whatever it is, it wants me to take it west and if I do, it'll give me the greatest treasure in the whole world." He stood and the stony look he usually wore returned. "And now that I got two of them, nothing'll stop me from getting it."

_More to come…_


	30. Be Very Careful

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

**Part 4 of 4 in a saga**

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

_I'm sorry it's been a while. Cut off some of my left index finger and haven't been keen to type lately! It's almost done, hang in there!_

**Chapter Thirty – Be Very Careful**

The next day the crew of the Ferris woke to Jones laughing and shouting with glee as he experimented with his powers. The seas had calmed and Sakura (usually an early riser anyway) was supervising the new user's practice.

"Try this!" Sakura called and threw empty wooden casks at the redhead. He leapt into each barrel's path and the objects passed through easily.

"Oh yeah, that works a lot better than ones with water in them!" Jones noted as they clattered to the deck.

Chanson rubbed her eye with one hand and coaxed a cigarette out of the pack with the other. "You cursed lunatics wanna keep it down? It's _dawn_!"

Sakura made a face. "Sorry, Chan-chan." She hadn't said anything more about his own Akuma no Mi ability, but that was part of what worried him.

She frowned at him, lit her smoke and pulled up a deck chair to watch them. "Try not to hit me with anything, alright? If you do, I'll kick your ass."

"Yep," Zoro said, emerging from the men's cabin. "You _are_ Sanji's kid."

"Shut it, Chrome-dome," she snapped.

His daughter was just on his heels. "Watch it, Princess. That's my father you're talking about."

Zoro laughed heartily, diffusing both of them. Behind him, Iisopp joined them on deck, tying his dreadlocks up into a spiky ponytail. "What was it Sanji used to call you? 'Marino'?"

"'Marimo'," he corrected and rubbed a hand over his shorn head. "Don't got much of that left to make fun of, though." He removed his bandana from his arm and tied it on his head. "Now I gotta worry about _sunburn_. I don't want you to start calling me 'Tomato' or something."

Chanson couldn't help but smile at the thought that her father felt the same way she did. Looking around, she noticed there were now a lot of people awakened by Jones' practice session. "Is that everyone then? Guess I should start breakfast."

"Everyone but the kid," Iisopp commented, bowing to stretch his back.

Raising a brow, Zoro ducked back into the men's cabin to have a look.

**.x.**

Diego sat in the corner of the cabin, hunkered over his satchel. From it he extracted a small Den-den mushi and stared at it for a moment. "I really don't want to talk to her," he muttered. "I hate this…" He screwed up his face, took a deep breath and picked up the line. Diego pressed the single button and waited.

"Deigo?" the anxious female voice on the other end asked.

He straightened up and put on a false smile. "Yes. It is I."

"Where are you? Are you alright? The Director said you didn't get on the steamer…!"

The boy's mouth hung open for a second as if he hadn't expected his mother to be worried about him. "I'm fine. I found another ride. A much more _fortuitous_ one."

"_Where are you_?" she asked again.

"En route to your goal, I imagine." Diego paused for dramatic effect, his satisfied smirk returning. "I have met up with a group of young people aboard a ship called The Ferris…"

"You… you _have_…?" she asked incredulously.

"I suppose I get my rebellious nature from you… or perhaps my father…" he gazed on the Den-den as if he were talking down to it. The silence from the other end seemed to be the effect he was going for. "At any rate, I wanted to tell you that these people had two of the pieces but lost one to the gentleman from Fortuna's son."

"They… did? How do you know these things?" she asked.

"I know a lot of things," he drawled, not answering her. "I'm tagging along to help them reach their goal. They are using the remaining piece to navigate by. I believe you still have the mate to this line? It's a Den-den pose. You may use it to track us."

"Diego…"

"Yes Mother?" he asked with his pompous tone still in tact.

She paused before advising him to, "be _very_ careful." She seemed to want to say more but went silent. The line stayed open until Diego closed it without saying goodbye. He sat in the semi-darkness of the cabin staring at the Den-den for a moment before stuffing it angrily in his bag. "_Be very careful_!" he mimicked in a smarmy voice. "That's _rich_ coming from her, like she can just slip into matron-mode. Oh! If she only knew that I _know_!" he fumed.

"Calling home to Mommy?" a deep voice rumbled from the cabin door. Diego jumped and turned to see Zoro leaning in the doorframe with his arms folded. "Don't worry," he said smoothly. "I won't tell anyone."

Diego put on his best innocent, sheepish look. "Tha- thank you, Roronoa-san." He scrambled to put his things away and darted out of the room. Zoro grabbed him by the shoulder before he could squeeze by.

The swordsman looked down on him and stared into his brown eyes for a moment before scoffing and letting him go. "You should be nicer to your Mom," he advised. "And feel lucky you still have her."

Diego pouted. "Sure…" He jogged up the stairs leaving Zoro frowning in the dim, filtered light.

**.x.**

In the small hours of the night after most of the crew had finally gone to sleep, Iisopp was up in the crow's nest, attentively watching the horizon and worrying about his friend. He yearned to see the small ship that was perhaps only hours ahead of them, just over the curve of the sea. The sky behind him lightened slowly but he was fueled by Chanson's most potent java and sleep was not an option. Finally, the stark line between sky and sea was interrupted by the shape of an island. He tried not to get his hopes up. Perhaps he was imagining it because it was still quite a ways off. When at last he thought he saw a jagged tree-line he got to his feet and peered through the scope attached to his 357 magnum. "Land ho…" he whispered excitedly and quickly climbed down to wake the others. Chanson was waiting for him.

"You see land?" she asked, sucking on a cigarette.

"Yep."

"Good. Vincento says we're here."

Iisopp's heart hammered in his chest. "We're really _here_, here?"

"Is there any other?" she jibed. "Question is, _where is_ here?"

He nodded. "I'll wake the guys. You get Taka."

Rather than give him lip about ordering her around, Chanson nodded back. She was far too excited to bother. In a few minutes the crew was assembled on deck and preparing the ship for landing. Jones called orders to weigh anchor when they were still a few hundred feet from shore rather than risk running aground. In the two dinghies, they loaded up and made for shore under the cover of darkness, but the sky was getting lighter every moment. The beach was made of pristine white sand that seemed to glow even in the low light. Tall, lush palm trees lined the edge of the jungle, which was thick and dark. Once they landed, everyone was itching to get going but waited for Jones to come up with a plan.

"Chanson's box will know where Chisa is. Her safety is my number-one priority. The treasure comes second…"

Chanson put her box down for a moment and raised her hand. "You don't need the box to find her. They're headed straight across this island. The one you had and the one with the pirate who has Chisa are moving that way." She pointed to the jungle before them. "There's another further in the same direction, on the beach by the images I'm getting from Vincento. He's very excited. He wants to meet up with the other three really badly."

Jones grinned. "That's great! Then this is what we do: Zoro, Chanson, Sakura and the kid will take Vincento and head down the beach; it should be faster to get where he wants to go if you're running on hard sand rather than through _that_." He indicated to the thick jungle before them. "Iisopp, Taka and I will head toward Chisa."

"Taka," Zoro asked his daughter. "How's your sense of direction?"

Iisopp laughed. "She thought the beginning of the Grand Line was the end!"

"_Thank you_, Iisopp," she groaned.

Zoro sighed. "Don't let these boys out of your sight. I'll protect Sakura, Chanson and the kid."

Diego turned red in the face. "My _name_ is Diego!"

Zoro effectively ignored his less-than-respectful tone. This seemed to further incense the young man. He folded his arms, turned away from them and pouted.

"Ok, gang. This is it. Meet you at the other side where the greatest treasure ever awaits us!"

"And probably scores of bad guys waiting to keep us from doing that in between…" Chanson grumbled. "You _have_ read the Mugiwara Book, right? This sort of thing doesn't come easy."

Zoro grinned. "That's half the fun, Chanson."

"_You_ are a _sadist_."

Jones laughed, reassuring the group. "Alright! Let's go get that treasure!!" Everyone cheered in agreement and the two groups dashed off into the jungle and down the beach.

**.x.**

Diego found it hard to keep up with Sakura, Zoro and Chanson, but refused to complain. He ran as if his life depended on it and soon surpassed the swordsman. After a few minutes he noticed something moving on the horizon. "Do you… see that?" he asked, panting.

"Yes," Sakura answered. "I think we might have company. "Are you ready, Roronoa-san?" he asked and turned his head. Sakura boggled at the empty space where Zoro should have been running behind them. "Where'd he go?!"

They skidded to a halt. "Great. He gets lost running down a beach! It's like a bloody road! How does he do it?!" Chanson raved. "Hey, Diego. Can you go find him? We'll hold off whoever's up ahead."

He was surprised to be asked to do something and hesitated before answering. "I'll do my best," he muttered and headed into the jungle – the only place Zoro could have disappeared into.

When Sakura and Chanson turned to face the enemy, the beach seemed vacant. "Maybe we scared them off!" Sakura piped hopefully.

"Right." Chanson rolled her eyes and they continued down the beach. She kept an eye on the jungle but nothing stirred. "This is weird. There's not even any seagulls or anything. When birds won't show, something big and predatory is out there."

Sakura grinned. "Let's hope it's never seen humans before and thinks we're too much of a threat! Ooh, look, Chan-chan, dolphins!"

"Huh?" she wondered and turned her head to the right to look at the water. "Um, those aren't dolphins, Fanboy…"

She didn't need to finish the thought as seven large shark-men leapt from the waves and blocked their path.

"Eh Haole!" their leader greeted them. He held a large, thick sword that looked as if it were crafted from the bottom jaw of a seaking and pointed it at Chanson. "Gimme dat ting." He grinned, his thin, wide head and rows of intimidating teeth were all they needed to translate his strange words with.

Chanson leaned toward Sakura. "You speak fish, Fanboy?"

"I don't think that's fish-speak, but no. I can only assume he wants Vincento," he whispered to her. "I'm sorry," he addressed the shark-man slowly and loudly. "We can't give this to you."

"Ah, no can?" he sounded only slightly disappointed. The grin widened. "You like beef, Okole?"

"Beef?" Sakura wondered and shrugged to Chanson.

"Give it, Wahine," the hammerhead addressed the girl. "Or I make you maki die dead."

Before Chanson could say something nasty back to the shark-man Sakura stepped in front of her. "When I clear a path, I want you to run."

"Run?!" she shouted, insulted but was awed to silence as the young doctor transformed. He stood over eight feet tall and his impressive antlers reached nearly twelve. He gritted his teeth and prepared to attack. Just then, he felt Chanson's feet run up his back. With Vincento still strapped to her back the pop singer launched herself off of Sakura's impressive shoulders and kicked Kihi square in his rectangular face. He was clearly not expecting this and took the force of the kick, sending him flying across the sand. His four lackeys watched in amazement as she landed gracefully where he had been standing. "So you were keeping the Akuma no Mi from me? I was keeping Grandpa's training from _you_. He didn't just teach me to _cook_. Let's kick some ass, Sakura." Chanson smirked at Sakura who smiled wide. At long last, she had called him by his name.

"As you wish, Chanson."

**.x.**

Diego tripped over vines and the gnarled, exposed roots of fig trees as he pressed into the jungle. The sound of the waves was muted by the thick growth and soon he realized he was totally alone. There was no sign of Zoro or of the group that went after the other boxes. He came to a halt as a strange bird cried. "This is what it's like," he muttered. "To be a Field Agent. Roaming around looking for clues in the furthest reaches of the Grand Line. Not knowing where you'll get your next meal. Not knowing who or what is out there, waiting to stop you from sticking your nose where it doesn't belong. This is what she was trying to protect me from…" The boy began to hyperventilate. "No!" he shouted, scaring off some small monkeys that had come down to investigate. "I wanted this. I wanted to be out here. I wanted to prove her wrong! I can do this. I'm not afraid. I want…"

Somewhere up ahead there was a crash as if a large tree had been felled followed by a blood-curdling scream. Diego ducked down into a protective squat and covered his head. He shook from head to toe. "Damn it!" he cried, tears rolling down his cheeks. "I want this so badly but I can't do it without her. I want her help. I want her to guide me again." He yanked his backpack off of his back and pulled the Den-den pose out. He dialed it and her voice answered immediately. "Help me!" Diego cried.

She didn't hesitate. "I'll be right there. Stay where you are if it's safe."

"Uh-huh…" he answered sobbing and hung up.

**.x.x. (Flashback) .x.x.**

On Diego's 14th birthday, his mother, father, aunt and uncle had a party for him as they usually did. His aunt, whom he worshipped, gave him a rare book. His happiness ended shortly after this as the four adults told him the truth. His mother Alice and his Father Coby were not his parents. His uncle Smoker was not related to him either. His Auntie Madame was in fact his birth mother. They tried to explain the circumstances but he would hear none of it. Diego threw the book he had been given, which had surely been one of a kind, at the white haired woman across from him and stormed from the living room. He didn't speak to her again for four months.

The next and last time he'd seen his mother he was seated across from her in a meeting room on Enies Lobby – the home base of the World History Academy three months before. To her right sat WHA Director Hartman Weimaraner. Diego had known both of these people for as long as he could remember. On either side of him sat four other members of the Academy. They waited for the Director to stop whispering to his associate and give them the news.

Weimaraner cleared his throat. "Thank you all for your patience. I have reviewed each of your applications for the position of Field Researcher and after conferring with the head of this division, our own Madame Curator," he said, indicating to Robin. "I am ready to make my decision."

One by one starting from Diego's left, Weimaraner addressed each applicant. The first and second men were accepted. The third was not because he had not passed an essential test in deciphering runes, but was told he could study and retake the test next year. He was only a little disappointed. The director then turned to Diego who held his chin high, confident that he had the job in the bag. "Diego, I'm sorry to say that we cannot accept your application at this time."

The boy's chin dropped. He glared at his mother. To his double shock, Weimaraner began to address the last applicant, a young woman to Diego's right. He stood up suddenly, commanding everyone's attention. "Director, you gave this man a reason for his failure, why do I not deserve the same courtesy?"

Weimaraner looked nervous. "Well, you see, Diego…"

Robin rescued him. She looked upon her son coldly. "You have yet to graduate from the Academy and you have never once had to survive on your own. You are only 14 years old. When you have some life-experience, we will reconsider your application."

The other applicants tried not to laugh. Diego glared at her. "I see." He sat back down. "Thank you for the explanation, Madame Curator."

Robin looked pale. She nodded her head. As the next applicant was accepted, Diego continued to stare at his mother. When it was over, she was the first to leave the room. Diego remained. Weimaraner made excuses to hang back and when the room had cleared he approached the young man.

"I know you're disappointed…" he began.  
"Oh, you don't now the half…" Diego muttered.

"Your Auntie Madame is only looking out for…"

"She's not my auntie!" he said, raising his voice and sneering at his mentor and friend in a way that made the old man's stomach turn. "She's my _mother_!" Diego pushed his chair back so hard it fell over and stomped from the room, unhindered by a shocked Weimaraner.

The boy returned to his dormitory and proceeded to destroy it. He emptied his drawers and cabinets and threw the contents to the floor. After his rage subsided he sat on the edge of his bed, surrounded by books, papers and clothes. "Why…?" he hissed. "Is this her revenge? Because of the way I treated her when she told me the truth?" He punched the bed with his right fist causing nearby papers to flutter to the ground. One of them was the cover of a report he'd drawn up after researching something for his mother. His name, 'Diego' appeared as the author, and hers 'Madame Curator' appeared as the mentor. She had been essential to him before he knew that his Auntie was not who she said she was.

"Madame Curator…" he muttered. "What kind of a name is that? Does that mean my name is Diego Curator?" The boy scoffed at this. "That's not a name, it's a title."

Suddenly he leaned over and grasped the cover page. "It is a title, isn't it?" His eyes grew wide and he rummaged through his strewn belongings for his satchel. When he had located it, Diego burst from the room and headed towards the largest building on Enies Lobby which used to house the courthouse – the WHA's main archives.

Hour after hour Diego pulled cards, located books, delved into the archives, searching for the earliest piece of work or mention of Madame Curator. It all stopped almost 20 years in the past. He made note of yet another mention of the name and stared at his pages of notes. "She appears at the same time the WHA does, but what…?" The sound of footsteps alerted Diego and he pulled another unrelated book on top of his notes and pretended to be reading.

The footsteps stopped and Weimaraner dropped tiredly into the chair beside him. "There you are," he said with a sigh. "You know, Madame is really only looking out for you."

Diego didn't ignore him, but he didn't react either.

"She cares very much about you. It makes sense, that she's your mother. You have the same drive, the same passion for history. It's in the blood." When he didn't get a reaction, the old man sighed again. "I'm sorry you didn't get the position because I know how much you will enjoy it. Please wait and study with us here for a few more years." He stood and made to leave.

"Thank you, Director," the boy said quietly. Weimaraner smiled and let him be. When he was sure he was gone, Diego pushed the decoy book back out of the way. He noticed something wasn't right. Next to his notes near where Weimaraner had been sitting was a newspaper Diego hadn't retrieved. He made a face and pulled it over for closer inspection. "Pirate King Straw Hat Luffy Executed…" he read the headlines. Under a large picture of a young man about to be beheaded in Rogue Town was a large article and the bounty posters of his crew. One of them, the image of a young girl worth 79 million Berrie had a thin X over it. "Devil Child Nico Robin…"

His hand scrawled into his notebook almost on its own and his feet hurled him back to the card catalog. "Nico Robin, Nico Robin…" He jotted down decimals and ran to the stacks. Back at the table, he splayed out the materials he'd collected and flipped pages as if possessed. When it was done he sat stunned in his chair. "The devil of Ohara, Nico Robin, daughter of famous scholar Nico Olivia, wanted by the World Government at age eight for destroying Marine ships. Escaped the Buster Call on that island as the last surviving member of the Scholars of Ohara, the largest group of people trying to decipher the Ponegryph and expose the Lost Century," he whispered breathlessly. "Executed at Enies Lobby during the Revolution twenty years ago." He flipped his notes. "Twenty years ago, Madame Curator began working for the newly founded World History Academy, on Enies Lobby."

He juxtaposed the wanted posted of eight year old Nico Robin and 30 year old Madame Curator (who still had black hair at the time) and grinned like a lunatic. "Unreal. My name is Nico Diego." Slowly, the boy's smile fell. The information he had gathered was sinking in to his consciousness and becoming real. This wasn't some historically significant person he was researching – it was his own mother. The woman who had given him to a good, loving couple who desperately wanted children who she made certain raised him well while she roved the globe doing what she needed to do. His mother had lost everything as a child and was hardly allowed to live by those who would capture or kill her. He stared at the wanted poster of the eight-year-old girl who looked so much like him, her sad eyes and thin nose looking off away from the camera and even at such a young age, looking determined to do what she must.

When his tears hit the newspaper Diego gasped. "I'm crying?" he asked himself. His lip trembled and he growled lightly. He leapt out of his chair and charged out of the library. After an hour's worth of searching, Diego stood on the train platform and watched Puffing Tom depart Enies Lobby, carrying his mother away from him. He balled his hands into fists.

**.x.x. (End Flashback) .x.x.**

Diego heard a rustling in the vegetation and looked up expectantly. He was surprised to see an old woman emerge. She had grey hair and large glasses and walked slowly as if she might break if she wasn't careful despite having plenty of padding around her bones. "My, what's a little boy doing in the middle of the jungle all by himself?" she asked sweetly. Diego stood and wiped his face.

"Nothing," he said childishly. "I might as an old woman the same question."

She clicked her tongue at him but smiled as she approached. "You should respect your elders, Sonny."

"My name is Diego."

The woman laughed. "And mine is Vaughn. Tell me, what brings you to Tiburon?"

His eyes bulged a bit. "Tiburon?!" Diego cried. He looked back in the direction he'd come and worried about Sakura and Chanson. "The Shark-man Island?!"

Vaughn laughed. "You mean you don't know where you are? What a pity…" She grew closer. "Don't worry, young Diego. I'll help you. Just let me show you the way out of the jungle…" she reached out to touch him and he finally realized her ill-intent, too late.

To both their surprise, four arms suddenly sprung up from Vaughn's shoulders and hips and restrained her from laying a hand on the boy. "Don't you touch him!" a commanding voice called as another figure emerged from the undergrowth: a woman wearing white Capri pants and a pale blue boat-neck shirt with ¾ sleeves. Her shock-white hair was pinned up with a barrette. She uncrossed her arms as she approached. "Back away from the boy, Miss Williams. You don't want to get hurt."

Diego stared at her. Vaughn laughed. "Nico Robin, what a pleasure. We thought you were long dead." Suddenly Robin groaned and fell to her knees. "You might want to let me go. I can be a real kill-joy…" Vaughn grinned as her appearance slowly grew younger.

"Mother!!" he shouted.

"Run… Diego!" Robin called.

He looked quickly at her then back to Vaughn. "I can't do that," he said calmly and ran into Vaughn like a linebacker, knocking her down and breaking her connection to Robin's four sprouted arms.

Unfortunately, Vaughn had already taken forty years off of her age. "That was foolish, Sonny," she growled. "I still have twenty years to go. Guess I'll just have to take yours. You know," she said, approaching the defenseless boy. "If I take more years than the person has they tend to die…"

Diego looked feverishly to his mother's fallen form. She craned her neck to look at him but couldn't move further. "Run…" she whispered but he was frozen in fear. Just before he would be in her clutches a dark form appeared in the shadows behind her. The air seemed to freeze as the person's killing intent entered the scene. Vaughn gasped and looked around, trying to find the source. When she saw his eyes, she cursed and ran for it, into the dense jungle growth and far away. He stepped into the clearing, two swords in hand and one in the mouth, covered in sweat and blood. "Oh. It's you. Thought it was more of those shark-people…" he muttered, sheathing his swords.

"Roronoa-san!" Diego shouted in relief. He uncurled his fists and ran to his mother's fallen form. "Are you alright?" he asked feverishly, not sure if he should touch her or not.

"Yes… Diego," Robin breathed. "You called me 'mother'." Her smile made him tear up but he simply nodded in reply.

Zoro walked over and looked down at Vaughn's victim. "Robin?!" he cried when he recognized her. He knelt down and pulled her up into his lap. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, but…" she whispered, unable to encourage her voice to do any more. "I think we're coincidentally on the same quest."

"Are you alright?"

"I will be. She took my energy. I'm sorry to inconvenience you, Kenshi-san, but could you carry me?" Without answering, he lifted her from the ground. "Diego, could you lead us to the beach? I think that will be the fastest way to our goal."

"It was until Roronoa-san got _lost_," he snarled, returning to himself.

"I did not get lost! I heard enemies in the jungle and went after them. Turns out this is a shark-man infested island."

"Duh, it's called Tiburon."

"Oh, like you knew that!"

"I did before you did!"

"So what?!"

"Boys…" Robin's calm tone stopped their argument instantly. She sighed. "So that's where he gets it from…" she muttered. "I know this is a bit sudden but I made the mistake of waiting too long before. Diego, this man is your father."

Zoro stopped suddenly and stared down at the boy. "It was about that long ago, wasn't it?" he said. "The last time I saw you. In Guraba, right?"

Diego blinked at them as they chit-chatted about this long-held secret, but he didn't get angry. He didn't run away. He watched his mother and father in awe and startled them both when he began to laugh.

"Are you alright, Diego?" Robin asked.

He apologized, still smiling, utterly amused by the situation. "It's a good thing Coby and Alice raised me, that's all."

_To be continued…_


	31. You Give Me Hard Rub, Kolohe

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

**Part 4 of 4 in a saga**

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter Thirty One - You Give Me Hard Rub, Kolohe**

West of the newly united family, Jones, Taka and Iisopp ran through the thick foliage toward what they hoped was their goal. There were signs that something large had made its difficult way through before them so they were confident they were on the right track.

"Looks like he's slowed down because of the boxes he's carrying," Taka observed.

"Nice. I can't wait to catch him!" Iisopp grimaced.

A voice from nowhere stopped them in their tracks. "I'm afraid you'll have to get through me, first."

They recognized him before he appeared. Jones swung around toward the source of the sound and growled as McRae materialized out of the jungle. "Great…" he hissed.

Taka lowered her stance and reached slowly for her short sword. "Allow me to handle this, please. You two go on ahead and rescue Chisa."

The boys exchanged looks and agreed. McRae moved to stop them, but Taka was between them before he could blink. "Oho," he drawled. "So we've leveled up since last we met, have we?"

"You think so, huh?" Out of her peripheral vision and without taking her eyes off McRae Taka saw that the boys were staring at them as if enthralled to see a good fight. "Guys. Go. Chisa. Remember?"

Jones shook his head a few times as if he'd been spellbound. "Right! Jeez. Come on, Iisopp."

"Don't have to tell me twice!" he shouted and followed after Jones into the undergrowth. Jones shouted back "she just _did_!" as they disappeared.

McRae looked like he really wanted to chase them and decided to give it a try. He vanished from the spot he was in and would have been well out of Taka's eyesight if she hadn't caught him. She pinned his long black overcoat to a nearby fig tree with a series of kunai. She held another between her fingers and clicked her tongue. "I thought you said you realized that I was more of a challenge?"

"My apologies," the old man hissed and sloughed off the coat, vanishing again into the green.

Taka knew he was close. She had been able to feel out his presence when he tried to get around her because he was being careless. Now, he was trying very hard to seem invisible. "That's a pretty annoying Akuma no Mi ability you've got. Chisa said it was the Koso Koso no Mi," she baited him.

"That is correct," he answered confidently.

She clicked her tongue again and grinned, having placed him by the sound of his voice. This time she took off his hat. McCrae materialized with a severe pout on his face and looked up at the snaking vines that his hat was pinned to. "Are you trying to disrobe me, young lady?"

Taka made a face. "Certainly not. I'm just trying to tick you off. Is it working?"

With a sneer McRae pulled a handgun from a holster under his arm. "Yes it is," he growled and took aim. Even before the bullets were fired Taka had her short sword out and deflected the shots off its blade as she charged at him. He wasn't surprised but went into evasive maneuvers all the same. "Time to show you what this old man can do," he said. "Koso Koso bunshin." Six other McRaes seemed to split off the first and form a circle around the young woman. They then spun around so quickly as to blur before stopping again. Each of them cocked a gun.

Taka used only one hand to form a seal. "Fair enough. I'll show you what my Master, the Tanuki-sen'nin taught me. Moku no Tate," she said. The ground around her and between the McRaes split open and a wall of thin, vine-like fig trees sprouted up around her. The real McRae had already fired and his bullets embedded into the wood. He cursed and looked up as Taka descended from a neighboring tree. Easily the elderly Akuma no Mi user leapt out of the way.

She made another series of seals, this time with both hands. "Mokuton, Kubi Shibari," she announced and the branches of the nearest fig tree seemed to unravel and shoot at her adversary. It seemed for a moment that she caught him, but the flexible branches squeezed right through an afterimage. Taka made a face and her eyes darted around and her ears strained to find him amongst the twittering birds and chirping insects. The sound of his trigger being squeezed alerted her at last and the bullet he fired planted itself into a log that hovered for a moment in the place she had just been.

"Substitution, again," McRae grumbled and tried to find her. "I'm growing tired of this game, young lady."

"Maybe you should lie down," Taka agreed, melting out of the tree behind him. She was growing tired of him as well and thought fondly of the nap she would take on the deck when this was over. 'I've got to get him off those fast feet of his,' she thought and came up with the perfect plan to do just that. "Doton, Jishin no Jutsu!" she called and formed the appropriate hand seals. Stamping her right foot on the ground, the earth shook and a sound like a clap of thunder resonated from below. The shaking was so violent that McRae lost his ability to stand. When he fell to his knees Taka grinned and changed her hand seals. He was too busy clutching the grass and trying to get back to his feet to notice that she had sunk into the ground.

"What… what the devil was that?!" he cried.

"Doton, Shinjuu Zanshu." Taka's voice emanated from below and her hands shot up through the ground and grabbed his ankles. He cried out again as he was dragged down, into the earth. When only his head remained sticking out Taka appeared in front of him and looked down at him with a satisfied grin.

When McRae stopped stuttering Taka folded her arms, satisfied that he wasn't going anywhere. "You might have acquired an ability to move quickly," she said, dusting off her hands. "But I worked my _butt_ off for mine." She bowed to him respectfully and hurried after the boys.

**.x.**

Back on the beach, Sakura and Chanson were holding their own against Kihi and his friends. The sharks would have intimidated less capable fighters, but with Sakura's training with fellow Zoans like his adopted father, Chopper and his king, Dalton, he was doing just fine. Chanson proved to be similarly capable, but, as she told Sakura as they fought, her grandfather Zeff died five years ago, so the only practice she got lately was against dummies rather than actual fighters. "I'm a little rusty!" she exclaimed as she planted her heal into the side of one of the shark's face. This one was ready for her and took the blow so that he could grab her ankle. Chanson cried out as he yanked her up into the air and tossed her, smacking her down with a club weapon studded with razor clams.

"Chan-chan!" Sakura cried and lifted his opponent up on his rack of huge antlers and sent him flying hundreds of yards up the beach. The shark landed with a thud and didn't move. Sakura ran to Chanson but was blocked by Kihi.

"Ho you give me hard rub, kolohe," Kihi wiped blood from his long, thin mouth. "Nuff already!"

"I'm sorry. I really have no idea what you're saying," Sakura said, calmly and politely before lowering his head, squaring his shoulders and charging at him. "But you need to get out of my way!!" He aimed low, out of reach of the hammerhead's short arms and scooped him up in the basket of his antlers by the midsection. He tossed him over his head onto the ground behind him, then following the gravitational progression, dropped down onto of him with his elbow thrust toward the back. He landed with all his weight on the elbow right on Kihi's chest. When Sakura stood, Kihi remained on the ground.

The other sharks were closing in, seeing their leader fall didn't seem to do anything to diminish their ferocity. The one that had attacked Chanson was moving in to finish the job as she lay on the beach, struggling to get up. Sakura converted to a four-legged form and charged the shark with the razor-clam club. He managed to distract him, but now he not only had the three on his back, but this one to contend with and Chanson lay bleeding on the sand. "Chan-chan, I'm coming!" he shouted to give her hope and readied himself for battle. "Even if I die trying…" Sakura muttered and tried to think of a plan.

Suddenly, he noticed a sort of fog roll in around the sharks behind him. As it reached his nose a wave of panic made his blood run cold. "Smoke?!" He glanced at the jungle, but there was no sign of fire. "But where there's smoke, there's…"

"White Boa!" a rough voice from somewhere nearby called and a fast-moving spiral of thick, white smoke wrapped around the razor-clam wielder. Like a boa constrictor, it began to squeeze the shark until he dropped his weapon and lost consciousness.

Sakura watched what he could see through the thick smoke, waiting for something similar to happen to him for a moment before realizing the targets were all sharks. He changed shape into the more humanoid, normal version of his transformations, ran to Chanson and lifted her up into his lap. "Chan-chan! Are you alright?" She seemed to be dazed from the blow she suffered and struggling to right herself. Her left arm was covered in blood. Automatically, Sakura began treating her wound: a sizable gash on her left arm left by the razor weapon. He didn't notice that the beach had grown quiet until someone nearby cleared his throat to get his attention.

"You ok, kid?" Sakura looked up and squinted into the sun. An older gentleman wearing a long, grey marine overcoat and impressive looking pole climber boots looked down on them. He was puffing away on two cigars at once. "Relax, I'm here to help you. You're with the Ferris crew, right?"

"Yes…" Sakura admitted, a bit confused by the situation. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Name's Smoker. You a doctor?"

"Yes, I am," Sakura finished bandaging Chanson's arm and helped her stand. "Are you ok, Chan-chan?"

As she stood she grasped his arms to steady herself. "Will be. Thanks, Sakura." She gave him a little discreet squeeze and a kind smile before regarding Smoker with her usual glare. Sakura stood very still and sort of giggled to himself as if he couldn't believe what had just happened. "Smoker?" she asked and sized him up. "Marine… You're not Captain Smoker who chased the Strawhats, are you?"

"Vice Admiral, but yes. That's me. I'm here with Diego's mother." When Chanson raised a brow as if to say 'who'? he sighed. "That little black-haired know-it-all?"

"Ohhhh… Right. The kid. Wonder if he…" Chanson didn't get to finish the thought as a loud clap of what sounded like thunder reached their ears and the sand under their feet shook. "What the hell was that?!"

Smoker didn't seem phased but looked toward the jungle. "A strong fight, probably. Anyone on your crew strong enough to do something like that?"

She shook her head. "Maybe it's Zoro or his daughter, maybe. They're pretty strong.

The marine stared at her. "Roronoa Zoro is here? And he has a daughter?"

"Not gonna arrest him, are you?" Chanson asked with a sneer as she lit a cigarette.

"I am here to assist Diego's mother. This daughter, her name is…?"

Sakura finally came out of his reverie. "Tashirono Taka," he replied. Smoker seemed to go a bit pale and he exhaled a puff of smoke that obscured his face for a moment. "Either of you know where we're headed?"

"Down the beach. Vincento said the treasure is that way," Chanson answered and pointed away from the pile of defeated shark-men.

"Then let's get a move on. She told me to make sure you got there in one piece."

Sakura shot Chanson a look but she nodded and the three of them began running down the beach.

**.x.**

In East Blue, the rain swept in that morning and didn't show signs of letting up. Rather than take her usual after-work break in the garden on the old wrought-iron swing with a good book and a glass of wine, Kaya sat inside. Through the tall 12-over-12 pane windows to her right, the rain pelted the garden. She reclined on a divan, propped up by luxurious pillows and kept herself busy with a knitting project. In her small surgeon's hands four bone needles clacked quietly, forming a blue, woolen tube destined to become a mitten. The muffled sound of the rain and her repetitive practice lulled her into a sort of trance broken only by the occasional heavy sigh from the other side of the drawing room.

Behind his drawing table sat her husband, Usopp, hunched over a new piece of watercolor paper. His paint and brushes at the ready. Behind him in the corner were two large cork boards covered in pinned-up sketches. One of his finished works was to the left of this: a large-format illustration of the second-to-last page from his latest children's book. The image was in his usual style – the outlines always black, drawn not with a pen but with a thin brush allowing him to skillfully change the weight of the line as he saw fit. The colors for this book were bright, airy, primary colors of joy. A little brown-haired boy was seated on a stoop with his head in his hands, looking despondent but the sun was shining, a bird splashed in a bird bath to the boy's left and flowers bloomed in the beds around the stoop he sat on. He'd published over 30 children's books on subjects both light and dark and the colors shifted for each subject. The darkest, palest pallet was used for a book he called _When Mommy Went Away_, a book about dealing with the loss of his own mother, written to help children understand their own loss.

The sketches around him were unfinished, just gesture drawings of the boy and something four-legged supposed to be a puppy drawn from different angles and positions. Some with the dog running toward the boy from left to right, some reverse of that, some from background to foreground and reverse, some with the puppy in the boy's arms. Usopp stared at the blank paper before him and heaved another sigh. His wife muttered something he wasn't paying attention to and he leaned to his left to see her better. "What's that?" he asked.

"Hm?" Kaya hummed without looking up from her knitting. "Oh, I said we need the rain."

He blinked at her for a moment before frowning. "Yeah. Say, Kaya? How can you concentrate?"

"…Three four five…" she said aloud as she counted 10 stitches she slipped from one needle to the other. "…Ten. I'm not concentrating. It's automatic." She looked up at him and noted the frustration on his face. Kaya smiled softly, put the mitten down and walked slowly over to him. "Still can't get the last page to come out, huh?"

"No…" Usopp groaned. She massaged his shoulders and he loosened up a bit, but still pouted at the paper. "So how do you not concentrate on your work and still get it done?"

She thought about her words before presenting them, well aware that she could potentially offend his artistic sensitivity. "Because it's not art, it's science."

"Knitting isn't an art?" he asked, perplexed.

"No, it is, but the way I do it, I see it as science. I get a pattern, supplies, I gauge my size and reproduce the item per the instructions I'm given. Knit, knit, knit… repetition and blissful automation. My hands just do it. I'm not really creating, I'm producing. Very much unlike what you're trying to do, I'm afraid." She bent at the waist and put the hands that had been rubbing his shoulders around his chest as she hugged him. "The same thing that bothers you is bothering me, the difference is it's not impeding what I'm doing at the moment."

"So I can't finish this book because I'm worried about Iisopp," he stated.

"You can't draw a heart-felt reunion between the boy and the puppy because the boy is you and the puppy is your son."

Usopp's jaw dropped and he grasped his wife's left arm, pulling her gently into his lap. He hugged her tightly and sighed again. "My good Doctor, I think you've got it."

_More to come…_


	32. The Sky’s The Same, Though, Right?

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

**Part 4 of 4 in a saga**

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter 32 - The Sky's The Same, Though, Right?**

Somewhere up ahead there must have been a waterfall as the sound of quite a lot of water rushing was lilting through the trees, mingled like a song with the calls of birds and beasts and insects. Divine plugged along, hindered only by the jungle growth. The crates' size and heft didn't seem to matter to either person carrying one of them, but the girl he pulled along at his right was complaining again.

"Blah! It's sooooo hot!" Chisa moaned and pretended to fan herself. "I'm hungry!" She rubbed her stomach with her free hand. "I need to go to the baaaaathrooooom!" Her latest plan 'Operation Annoying' didn't seem to be working but it was a lot more fun than 'Operation Hold My Breath'. She tripped on a root but Divine pulled her up as she fell and they continued on. "Mou!!" she cried. "What is with you?!"

He looked straight ahead. "What's with you? If you can hear this thing then you know what I know, right?"

Chisa pouted, upset that her tactic wasn't working at all. "We're close."

"Sure are." He nodded then went back to stoic silence.

"Nyaaa! You're no fun! I thought pirates were fun!"

"Fun? You've been reading too many books, kid."

"I don't like to read. My mom and dad were pirates and they had lots of fun."

Divine seemed to cringe. "Isn't that special?"

"You don't know the _half_!" Chisa crowed._ 'Ha! Finally got something to tick him off with!_' she thought. "I can't say who they are 'cause they told me not to tell, but I _can_ tell you they had some pretty awesome adventures as pirates."

"I don't care," he grumbled.

"They sailed the Grand Line in the Daikaizoku Jidai…"

"Whoopitidoo."

"They fought with Marines and Pirates and baddies and…"

Divine stopped dragging her and shouted down in frustration, "I don't friggin' care, alright? Shut up already!"

Chisa paused and blinked at him as if seeing him for the first time. "Ok."

It was Divine's turn to blink. "Ok?"

"Yeah. It's cool." She smiled kindly at him. "Sorry." To his surprise, she started walking toward their goal. "Come on. We better get moving."

Divine sputtered and tugged her arm, almost making her lose her balance with the large crate on her back. "Whoa, wait a minute. What are you up to now?" he asked.

"Nothing," she protested. "I just want to…" she started to explain before something caught her attention over Divine's shoulder. Her face lit up "Nii-chan!!" Walking slowly toward them, arms slightly raised in a gesture of pacifism stepped Blue D. Jones. Divine looked as though he'd seen a ghost for a moment before gritting his teeth and taking a step toward him.

"It's ok, I'm not going to attack you. I just want you to let Chisa go."

"She's a little too good at carrying this thing," Divine answered, thumbing at the box over her shoulders, "for me to do that."

Jones shook his head. "That's a shame." He lowered his arms and a shot rang out.

The Strong Man clutched his right shoulder and cried out.

On cue, Jones ran at the Akuma no Mi user who activated his ability and swung his uninjured left arm at the boy, but Jones passed right through his whole body. He grasped his sister's arm and pulled her after him. "Come on!" he cried.

"But…!"

"No buts, move it!" he ordered and they disappeared into the undergrowth.

**.x.**

Under cover of a large, gnarled fig tree, Iisopp cursed under his breath and pocketed his Clayton D-38 double-action 9mm. The shot had missed its mark. 'Great plan, Jojo,' he thought. 'Would have worked if I could shoot through you _and_ see through you!' He pulled another, more powerful gun out and started the second part of the plan.

Divine growled and quickly transformed, morphing his body with his logia ability into solid, moving stone. His attention was taken from chasing after Jones, Chisa and the box she had on her back to the tell-tale clicking sound of a gun being cocked. He took a shot to the heart. The bullet simply ricocheted off the stone. Iisopp stood in plain sight and cursed again.

"You've tried this already, haven't you? Your pee-shooter won't work."

"Um, Earth to Mr. Pirate Pants? I wounded you just a second ago." Iisopp holstered the Staats & Wadman 357 magnum somewhere under his large sweatshirt. "And I can do it again."

Divine took a step towards him. "Not while I'm like this, you can't"

From the other side of his sweatshirt Iisopp quickly pulled a gun marked Mustang Boa 44 magnum from a holster. "I can sure try!" he said and started part three of the plan by running after Jones. While running, foliage half blocking his view with Divine giving chase Iisopp squeezed off a shot from the high-caliber weapon. This time, the shot hit its mark and managed to knock the wind out of the pirate. "Gettin' there!" Iisopp cheered himself on. The sound of the waterfall grew closer and the thudding sound of Divine's footsteps encouraged him that the plan was working.

**.x.**

Not far from Iisopp and Divine, a wide waterfall cascaded into a deep pool. Unlike typical fresh water waterfalls, this one seemed to begin somewhere in the water underneath the island and a sort of lagoon with no visible outlet to the sea made up the pool. Its shores were sandy. Its fish were tropical and the scent of salt was carried on the mist as the water fell. Chisa and Jones crouched behind a plant with huge leaves just at the edge of the top of the falls and watched and waited. "Nii-chan, I…"

"Shh!" her brother advised with a serious look on his face that sort of scared her. She remembered a time long ago when he wore that look in the sweets shop back on Fuchsia. Her mind, swimming with confusion, thought back to her home and the past…

**.x.Flashback.x.**

The three-year-old with pigtails sprouting from the top of her head peeked from behind her mother's slender legs at the strangers. "It's ok, Chisa," Nami urged, stepping aside. "This is your Auntie Viva, Uncle Ace and Cousin Vane."

The four year old was already being sized up by her braver older brother. "Hiya Vane! I'm Jones!" he said brightly and stuck out his hand. Vane, who was a year younger than Jones stuck his tongue out at him and was scolded by his parents. Chisa stared at him and wondered why he did that.

Nearly a week later, Vane had come out of his shell a bit. Iisopp and his parents Usopp and Kaya had arrived and the four children played together. Mostly, Jones, Chisa and Iisopp played and Vane watched from a distance. They had given up on asking him to play along after he continually turned them down, telling them their games were stupid and 'landlubby' whatever that meant. Today, he sat under a Mikan tree and watched them skip rocks on the pond at the edge of the orchard. Chisa left Jones and Iisopp who were concentrating on a contest to see who could skip the most times with one rock and circled back to the trees in a wide arc. She came up behind Vane and simply sat down next to him. He seemed shocked but didn't make a fuss.

"Whadda you want?" he asked.

"Nothing," Chisa cooed.

Vane narrowed his eyes. "Then what are you doing here?"

"Just wanna see what you see."

He looked at her as if she had just barked like a dog. "I see the same thing you do!"

"Can't be," Chisa said, squinting at her brother and Iisopp. "I see fun and I want to play too. I think you can't see that."

Vane snorted. "What's fun about throwing rocks at flat water? Being on land is stupid."

Chisa pouted. "Being on land?"

Vane reclined and looked up at the sky, supported by his outstretched arms. "I live on a pirate ship. I've never been on land before, but now I know it's stupid. It's boring. I wanna go home."

"Oh," she said and mimicked his posture. "The sky's the same, though, right?"

"What?" he asked skeptically.

She watched the clouds move against the dark blue sky. "The sky is the same over land as it is over the ocean, right?"

He looked like he wanted to be angered by this but his pout loosened and he lay down on the grass. "Yeah. It is." The sun filtered in through the Mikan tree leaves. "These trees are nice."

Chisa smiled and continued to watch the sky. "Yep. The sure are."

**.x.End Flashback.x.**

When he finally lost sight of the pirate, Iisopp neared the top of the waterfall. He switched guns while running, replacing the Boa with a sawed-off Bluing 30 caliber rifle. "Ok, Thirty-aught-six, don't fail me now!" he hissed, loading a shell bigger than his index finger into the gun as he dove into a thick patch of vegetation. He was hidden completely. Iisopp held his breath and listened. The roar of the falls ahead covered a lot, the birds and beasts and insects warblings were muted but he was a well-trained sniper. His father and grandfather had been world-famous marksmen in their day. Iisopp knew he'd never be as famous, or infamous as they were, but he wanted to impress them none the less. He listened and tried not to breathe as Divine came thudding after him. The first thing he noticed was the ground vibrating, then the dull thud of his footsteps, then the swish and crack of vegetation as he pushed through the jungle. Finally, the pirate with the case strapped to his back thudded past him, slowed at the top of the falls and looked around. _'Now,' _Iisopp thought._ 'It's all me.'_

He rose soundlessly from his cover, shouldered the Bluing, picked his mark and squeezed the trigger. The shot connected with the pirate's left shoulder, chipping it, but more importantly, it knocked the box off his shoulders. The box fell to the right and Divine fell forward with the force of the high-caliber bullet. When he disappeared, Iisopp sprinted to the edge and watched him splash down into the pool.

"Alright!!!" Iisopp cheered. Jones and Chisa ran toward him from their hiding place. "I got him! Did you see that Jojo?!"

Before Jones could congratulate him, Chisa screamed. "Ii-chan, save him! He can't swim!!"

Iisopp blinked at her. "But, he's the bad guy…" He looked to Jones who stared at the water and clenched his fists. He was a hammer now, too. Had he been pushed off the cliff, he'd be the one sinking helplessly to the bottom.

"If you don't jump in there and save him I'll never speak to you again," she said seriously. Iisopp was astounded to hear her speak that way and quickly shed his pants and sweatshirt which were laden with firearms and ammunition before jumping in after Divine.

Iisopp pulled the pirate's unconscious form from the water up onto the beach. His earlier shoulder wound bled into the white sand but the one he just received didn't seem to have caused any serious damage. Iisopp had just finished emptying Divine's lungs of water when Chisa and Jones made it down from the top of the falls with his clothes and arms. Each of them had one of the boxes strapped to their backs. Coming to, Divine pushed his unwilling savior off of himself and coughed water onto the beach. Chisa ran to him, dropped the box and crashed to her knees next to him. "Are you ok?" she asked, putting her hand on his arm. Blood pulsed down his chest.

"What's it look like?" he snarled.

Chisa pouted. "Why are boys so stupid?" she whispered quietly. He struggled to get to his feet with two wounded shoulders. She helped him up and he averted his eyes from the two young men before him. "You're all stupid!" Chisa cried with tears in her eyes. "If you just said something, Vane…"

"Yeah, well, by the time I realized it was too late."

Jones and Iisopp boggled. "Wait, you mean this Divine guy is…?" Jones asked, dropping Iisopp's gear on the beach.

"…Ace's kid, Vane?" Iisopp finished.

"Edward D. Vane," the pirate added and gently pushed Chisa away to stand on his own.

Jones sighed and looked at the discarded box that sat in the sand. "Blue D. Jones," he answered and put his hand out. "Long time no see, cousin."

Vane sneered. "I'd shake, but my arms hurt."

Iisopp put his hand behind his head. "Yeah, sorry about that… Wait! No I'm not. You stole one of our treasure boxes and kidnapped Chisa! I had every right to shoot you!"

"Right on. You should never regret what you do to protect people," Vane answered sagaciously. He looked to Jones. "I take it he can't hear the boxes?" Jones shook his head no. "They're practically screaming now."

Chisa nodded. "The time is now."

"Time is running out," Jones added.

Iisopp took a deep breath. "Should we get Vane to Dr. Hulgan or take these things where they want to go?"

Vane shook his head. "I can make it. I morphed to stone before the bullet got a half inch in," He put his left index finger up as if to poke it into the wound and Chisa smacked it away. Vane laughed darkly. "We gotta get going."

"What about the treasure?" Iisopp asked, pulling on his pants. "How do we know you won't try to take it all yourself?"

"Why? Because I'm a pirate?" Vane scoffed.

"It's ok," Jones said with a wide grin. "He's a D."

Chisa, Vane and Jones seemed to hear something and looked to the boxes. Chisa giggled with excitement. Iisopp frowned and finished dressing himself. "What? Are they talking about me or something?"

"They like the idea of D.," Jones said. "Interesting…"

Jones and Chisa hitched the two boxes, Vane's and Jones' on their backs and hurried through the jungle together toward their unknown goal.

_More to come…_


	33. I Think That Went Well, Don’t You?

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

**Part 4 of 4 in a saga**

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter 33 - I Think That Went Well, Don't You?**

Moving through the thick jungle growth with a woman in his arms was difficult for Zoro, especially because he wanted to use those arms to slice his way through the vines and trees in his way. Sensing his discomfort, Robin spoke up.

"It shouldn't be much farther, should it Diego?"

Their son shook his head. "I can still hear the ocean to our right but I have no idea how long Tiburon is. It could be _hours_ before we find the spot Chanson was talking about."

Robin gave Zoro a small sympathetic smile but it did little to make him feel better. "I wish we knew what was waiting for us up there," he grumbled. "Could be more shark men, and if I'm busy carrying you we're vulnerable. Can you use your powers to scout ahead, Robin?"

She shook her head as well. "That Williams woman's ability is almost like being hugged by Kairouseki. The Vice Admiral said it took a few hours before even _he_ was able to use his powers when she got him."

"The _who_?" Zoro asked, astonished. "Oh, right. You work for the government. Forgot."

Diego chuckled. "So you think that that's something? Vice Admiral Smoker is her husband!"

Zoro stopped in his tracks and tried not to drop his former nakama. "Smoker? Like, _thee_ Smoker? You married the guy?!"

She cringed a bit. "He's a good man."

"I'm sure he is, but… _Smoker_?!"

Robin couldn't help but laugh. "Yes. _Smoker_."

Zoro shifted her weight a little and kept plodding on through the jungle.

"Uncle Smoker's ok," Diego admitted. "Sort of stiff, but he's really kind," he said, holding his hands behind his head as he walked. "Or maybe I should start calling him 'Dad' now? I don't think I want to now that I know…"

"What kind of a name is Uncle Smoker?" a voice asked from behind him and made Diego jump out of his skin. He held his hand to his chest as if to keep his heart from jumping out of it and he and Zoro spun to see who was there.

"Don't do that!!" Diego screamed at Taka who stood blinking at them as if nothing about materializing out of the jungle was out of the ordinary.

"Boy, you sure have gotten good at sneaking up on people," Zoro commented with a grin.

"It's called ninjutsu, Otousama," she corrected him and stared at the woman in his arms. "Who's this?"

"Diego's mom. Ninjutsu?" Zoro asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Ninjutsu. Why are you carrying her?"

Zoro pouted. "She got attacked by a lost pirate, where'd you learn Ninjutsu?" he asked quickly and suspiciously.

"From Tanuki Sen'nin. Ah, that's funny, I just left a Lost Pirate buried to his neck in the ground back there..."

Tanuki…? That crazy badger guy?!" Zoro cried as he remembered the old man from Palast that Taka was talking about. "I thought I told you to stay away from that old lunatic?!"

"Well, you weren't around. He's harmless. Well, he can kill with his _mind_, practically but he's an ok guy once you get to know him, and if you can get past the smell…" she said with a shudder.

"So you abandoned Kendo for Ninjutsu?" her father asked, still angry.

"No." Taka folded her arms and stared him down. Robin and Diego watched them carefully. "I learned _both_."

"Both?"

"Both. During the day I studied Kendo with Okaasan and by night Ninjutsu with Tanuki Sen'nin."

This quieted Zoro. He nodded his appreciation to her and she grinned slightly. "Oh. Then that's alright. Good job. Since you're such a good ninja I'm sure you'll find a way to scout ahead quick for us?"

"Of course," Taka said and raised a hand to make a seal with it.

Robin cleared her throat. "Isn't there something you should tell your daughter?" she asked, looking to Diego.

As if it were nothing more than a weather report, Zoro said, "oh, yeah. Taka, I'm Diego's father. He's your half brother."

The green haired girl blinked at him for a second. "Ah," she said and looked to Diego. "You wanna come scout with me?" she asked. Before the flustered youth could answer she grabbed him with one arm. "Good," she said and they both disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Zoro looked at Robin. "I think that went well, don't you?"

**.x.**

On the beach at the end of the Island a group of Sharkmen were gathering. They stepped up from the waves and gathered around a female Mako sharkwoman who was pacing slowly in front of a hammock. A huge Nurse Shark male approached her and bowed. "Izuru-sama, the seas are clear. Only three ships are anchored to the North and all crew seems to have come ashore."

Izuru turned to him and waved her hand to dismiss him. "Where is Kihi?" she asked another.

"Not back yet," someone quickly answered. "He went up the west coast to check on the arrivals with his group over three hours ago."

"That doesn't bode well…" she growled and pushed her wild blue hair back behind her ear again. She might have been considered pretty by shark-standards but her large, sharp teeth and yellow, close-set eyes were a touch off-putting. "And Bolly-sama still sleeps…" She looked to the hammock. Nestled in some netting tied between two trees an old man snored as the sea-breeze played with his white hair and beard. He mumbled something unintelligible in his sleep occasionally but showed no signs of waking any time soon. Izuru sighed.

Their attention was drawn to a human figure as it burst out of the jungle and tore across the sand toward them. A woman with purple hair came to a stop ten feet from Izuru and panted, bent double trying to catch her breath.

"What it is, Vaughn?" Izuru asked, alarmed.

"We got… company… Strong folks. Like us. Old pirates are here…"

Izuru growled. "That's it. I'm waking him up."

**.x.**

In Al Bolly's dreams he was young again but the happiness of his time aboard the Oro Jackson were not featured in this vision. It was more than forty years in the past. He, James Aide, Richard Sairen and the gigantic Edward Newgate were in a tavern in Rogue Town. The ceilings were high and the only windows were all above the second-story level. It was noon and faint light poured in from these windows through grey clouds that hung on from the day before. It had, appropriately, rained that day; the day Gold Roger was executed.

Newgate only just fit in the tavern sitting down, but it was the only place in town he could manage to get into at all. He drank from a barrel and let his eyes unfocus for a moment. James sat at the bar and made small talk with a vivacious young woman behind it. "Red hair and black leather's my favorite color scheme, you know, Molly?" he said, making her giggle. Richard pulled a stool up to the upright piano on the wall to James' right and began to play softly and quietly, but did not sing.

Bolly made a face. "Such a somber tune, Richard, must you?"

Without missing a beat Sairen replied, "I believe I must."

Newgate shifted his weight and groaned. "Don't you think it's about time we got out of here?"

"Pff," James scoffed and took the beer Molly handed him. "I ain't wanted like _you_ cats, I think the scenery around here looks pretty nice…" he said and gave the redhead a wink. "Might just stick around, and if that booze-makin' machine the Captain gave me does what he said it will, I think I'll do just fine for myself."

"It's not a booze-making machine, James, it's called a 'still'," Richard corrected him without turning from his piano. James just shrugged. "I met a man today who just bought real estate on an island called Largo," Richard said, in a rolling sort of way that was in synch with the somber music he played. "He claims it is the 'Entertainment Capital of the Grand Line' I believe I will take the music-making machine I have been given and give Largo a try. What about you, Edward?"

Newgate finished his barrel of beer and tried to stretch his neck in the cramped quarters. "I'll get me a crew of my own. Head back out. Damned if I'm gonna let what our fool Captain got himself into pull me down."

Richard chuckled. "That's nearly a direct quote from the man himself," he said. "Is that really how you feel, or are you trying to follow his will?"

Newgate frowned. "A little of both, I suppose. Someone's got to."

"I'll go with you," Albert Bolly said quickly and gravely. He stared at the row of wooden boxes to the left of the piano his crewmate played. "If you'll take a passenger. I want to go back to the Grand Line. To wait for Vincent."

This rendered them silent. James raised his glass. Newgate nodded. Richard stopped playing and turned to face him. "An admiral pursuit. Where will go you?"

"I was thinking about Tiburon," Bolly said, the seriousness ebbing from his face. "The shark-folk still owe us their lives and it's my favorite place of all the islands we saw." He got up from his chair and crossed to the row of boxes. "It's like he knew. When he gave me the water-purifier I had no idea what I would use it for. But Tiburon has no fresh water, remember? It's _like_ he _knew_!"

Richard smiled and began playing a brighter tune. "It is, isn't it?"

Newgate shifted uncomfortably. "So you're just going to go sit on some island and wait? For what?"

Bolly shrugged. "The end. The Captain said one day it would all come back together if there wasn't a way to save him. I'll protect this piece and wait for that day. You should all do the same. Protect these boxes with your lives and only entrust them to people you know will do the same!" He put his hand on his and closed eyes. "We owe him at least that much."

James wiped a tear from his eye and lifted his glass. "To Roger!"

"To Roger and Vincent!" Bolly added and they all agreed.

_To be continued…_


	34. One Piece

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

**Part 4 of 4 in a saga**

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter 34 – One Piece**

High up in the fronds of a large palm tree on the edge of the beach Taka scouted the situation. Her half-brother quivered beside her, eyes wide, muttering something about how amazing it was that he was so high off the ground and had no idea how she got them there. Taka ignored his melt-down and squinted at the beach. "Two humans, about 12 dozen shark people. There's a box that looks just like ours next to the old man in the hammock." She looked left and right with her eyes, hardly moving a muscle as she perched in the fronds. "Jones and Iisopp are three hundred yards to the left. Looks like they got Chisa back. Is that other guy with them the pirate she was abducted by?" Diego twitched and muttered incoherently. She rolled her eyes. "Chanson and Sakura and I assume your Uncle by the look of him are about 200 yards to the right where the jungle meets the beach."

Diego's mutterings began to increase in volume as his shock wore off. "How the… did we get up here… you just…?"

"Shh. If you make too much noise all those people-eaters down there will know we're here."

He swallowed hard and stared at her. "Do you hate me?" he asked.

"I don't know," the older girl replied quickly. His stare pierced her. She sighed and turned to face him. "Look. I don't know you very well yet. You're about the right age to have been conceived only a short while after my father left my mother and I and I'm still dealing with _that_ little issue." She noticed he had the look of one of her mother's students whom she had just bested and who was about to burst into tears. "Even if that's the case _it's not your fault_. Relax. We hardly have time to get into this now, anyway. There's a treasure that we need to get to, remember?" She gave him her best attempt at a reassuring smile. It seemed to work. Diego nodded.

"Recently I was told that my auntie is really my mother and today I found out this Roronoa person is my father and now I know I have a sister. It's all a bit much," he added and adjusted his glasses. "But you're right. We have a task at hand. That box down there is the last piece to this treasure. We need to get a hold of it, but how? Even with Uncle Smoker helping us out it's going to be tough to get past all those sharkmen."

Taka nodded. "We need the mastermind. Hang on tight," she said, holding out her arm for him to latch onto again. "We're going down."

"I hate this part…" Diego cringed as her ninjutsu was activated and a cloud of smoke swirled around them, masking whatever it was she did to get them out of the 80 foot palm.

On the ground and back where they had left their parents, Taka explained the situation. They agreed to split up, Zoro carrying the still ailing Robin would go to Chanson's party and Taka and Diego would go to Jones' party. When the girl arrived, she and Diego were quickly introduced to Vane who apologized to Diego for making a bad first impression on him. Taka told Jones what the beach ahead looked like. He agreed that their goal was there and asked her to tell the other group to wait for him before making a move. She used another of her special earth-type jutsu to make a copy of herself grow from jungle floor seven hundred yards away and only inches from Sakura who nearly fainted from shock. The vine-and-leaf covered duplicate told Smoker, Chanson and Sakura to stay put until Jones gave the signal and melted back into the ground.

When she was done, Taka lowered her hands and opened her eyes. "Alright then, What's the plan?"

Jones took his hands out of his pockets and clapped them together. "I'm gonna go talk to them."

"Are you nuts?!" his best friend wondered.

"No, I'm untouchable," he corrected him and threw his fist through Iisopp's face. "Be right back. Wait here."

His cousin stepped in front of him. "I'm going too," Vane demanded.

Jones made his hand solid and put it on his shoulder. "No offence, Cuz, but they could still pick you up and throw you in the ocean." Vane glowered at him. "You'll have plenty of butt-kicking to come, I promise."

The pirate stood down. "You're lucky as hell you're related to me."

"I sure am, Vane. I sure am." Jones grinned and started out of the jungle.

**.x.**

The sharkmen's leader, Izuru was just starting to approach the old man in the hammock when someone shouted that a human was coming toward them. She held a hand up to hold her men back and allowed the stranger, who was alone and walking in a leisurely, non-threatening way to come into their midst unharmed.

"How's it goin'?" Jones asked. He could almost hear Iisopp smack his own forehead in the distance.

"What do you want, human?" Izuru growled, baring her razor-sharp teeth.

Jones leaned over and looked behind her. "That," he said and pointed to the box.

She laughed. "Absolutely not. Are you soft in the head or something?"

"Some of my friends think so, but I think it's an endearing trait, myself." He gave her a wide grin. "If you'll excuse me." Jones sort of saluted her and began to walk around her. Izuru laughed again and side-stepped to get in his way. When he passed through her she shuddered and boggled at him. Half of her cohorts cried 'ghost!' and took off for the water. Jones tried very hard not to laugh as he approached the box. "So this is it, huh?" The old man in the hammock next to it mumbled in his sleep and smacked his lips. Intrigued, Jones approached him.

"You stay away from him!" Izuru shouted. She kept her distance, put off by the boy's ghostly ability.

"Make me!" Jones fired back.

Infuriated, she ordered Vaughn Williams to do something about him. Vaughn scoffed at her. "That's an Akuma no Mi ability, Izu-chan and nothing anyone can do anything about, including me if I can't touch him." She made a grabbing gesture as if to grab the air to show how useless it was to stop him.

Jones kept his hand solid and nudged Bolly's shoulder gently. "Hey, mister. Mister, wake up, I gotta talk to you."

Izuru growled loudly and looked around as if trying to find something that would work on this stranger's ability then grinned wide. "I might not be able to hurt you, but I can hurt the dozen or so crewmates you've got waiting in the wings!" She called to her men and they rushed toward the jungle. The Treasure Hunters took that as Jones' sign and rushed out to fight them.

"Crap!" Jones hissed and shook the old man again. "Mister, come on, wake up!" He glanced feverishly at the sharks as they clashed with his friends. "Damn it, I didn't want anyone to get hurt!"

Bolly groaned and blinked at him. "I'm up, I'm up, hold your horses…" As his vision focused he gaped at the redhead and tears came to his eyes. "Vincent? Is that you?!"

A grin spread slowly across Jones' face. "Close. I'm Jojo. Blue D. Jones. I've come with the other tree of those," he said and pointed to the box to their left. "Are you gonna try to take them away from me, or can we split the treasure?"

Bolly began to chuckle a delighted little laugh and clasped the young man's arms. "My boy, I believe we have a deal!" He stopped and turned his head to the left. "What's going on here?" he asked as the sharks clashed with the Treasure Hunters. "Are we having a party?" His eyes sparkled as he turned back to Jones. "Is it your birthday, Vincent?"

Jones sighed and pouted. "Sit tight and I'll kick these shark guys' butts."

Bolly's boney hand clamped down on his arm and for the first time Jones realized he was talking to a former member of Gold Roger's crew. The old man pulled himself out of the hammock and even shrunken with age he was a large man. His clothes were faded and stained. He wore a long, tattered captain's jacket that seemed several sizes too big over pants, a boat-neck shirt and sash. His hair was white and long and his beard was wide and bushy. He released his human handrail and shuffled toward the beachhead and the fighting. Bolly took a deep breath and shouted 'stop!' at the top of his lungs and stop they did. Everyone turned to stare at the formidable senior citizen. "Tiburon, stand down!" The sharks all looked to Izuru who seemed bewildered at Bolly's ability to command attention. She made a hand gesture and they all retreated toward the sea. Slowly, the Treasure Hunters approached Jones.

Chisa, however, ran. "You did it, Nii-chan!!" she called and skipped across the sand.

Bolly shuffled back to Jones and seemed to have lost the vigor he showed only moments before. He sighed and seated himself on the edge of his hammock. "Well, that's enough excitement for one day, don't you think Izu-chan?"

"This boy wants your machine, Bolly-sama," Izuru replied defensively. "Do not let your guard down!"

Bolly waved her off. "I imagine you're the one bringing the rest of them to me, aren't you?"

Vaughn boggled. "What?! You mean you knew that?! Why'd you have Angus and me traipsing across the bloody Grand Line for then?!"

As the others gathered they heard the argument and wondered the same thing. "If Angus hadn't tried to retrieve James' machine I don't think any of them would have come!" he said with a hearty laugh. "We'd still be waiting for all eternity!"

Most folks didn't have a clue what he was talking about but Nico Robin breathlessly asked her husband to put her down. Smoker did so carefully and she used her son's shoulder as a crutch as they both stepped forward. "I believe you're right Bolly-san," Robin said. "When the boxes were in the possession of those they were entrusted to, they were at peace. It was only when they were disturbed that they began to call out to each other."

Vane rubbed his chin. "So that's why the respirator wanted me to take it away so badly…"

Chanson nodded. "Same thing happened with me," she said and tapped the wooden box she had just taken off her back. "Vincento wouldn't shut up about wanting to get on the Ferris and head East."

Jones folded his arms. "So what happens now?" he asked, staring intently at Bolly.

The old man smiled and clapped his knees with his hands. "I don't have the _slightest_ clue."

Diego frowned. "Surely they're still talking to you?"

Jones shook his head. "It's so loud and mumbly now that they're so close together, I can't tell what they want."

"They wanted to get together, right?" Iisopp asked. "So, why not put them together?"

"I knew I brought you along for a reason," Jones commented jokingly. "Sound good, Bolly-san?"

"Sure, sure. Maybe when they touch something will happen!" The old man agreed and Chanson, Vane, and Jones placed theirs corner-to-corner. Chisa picked up Bolly's much to his surprise and helped him get it in place. All four of them were impressive when placed in a large square but as everyone held their breath, still nothing happened.

"Well, shoot. I'm stumped." Jones scratched his head.

Robin frowned. "Bolly-san, surely you must know something? Didn't your captain tell you anything about these devices when he gave them to you?"

He shook his head. "It was nigh forty years ago but I remember that day like it was yesterday. The day before he went off to give himself in to the government in order to spare the rest of us he gave each of us four one of these boxes. Said they each had a different function, James got the still, I got the water purifier, Richard got the music box and Edward got the respirator. They're powered by an ancient power source we found along the way in our journey but I haven't a clue how it works. Only the captain knew that and he's long gone… him and Vincent…" The memory was too much for Bolly. He hung his head and silently wept. "Oh, Vincent…"

Zoro leaned over to Robin and whispered "Who's Vincent?"

She smiled slightly. "I think you're about to find out." Their son looked up at her and made a face. "Do you have an idea, Diego?"

"I think so," he said and stared at the boxes. "Nothing is known about the 'ancient power sources', right? Do we know what they look like? Are they like a battery that makes these things function?"

Chanson approached her mother's music box and opened it for him. Taking her lead, Vane, Jones and Chisa did the same with the others. "I didn't really get a chance to poke around in it," she admitted. "But if there's something powering these things, I'd say it's in there." Chanson pointed to an area in between and behind two of her device's floating keyboards. Tubes and wires snaked their way around and into a carved wooden box. Diego crouched down and squinted into the darkeness.

"Bingo," he said quietly. "I see glyphs."

"Bingo," Robin repeated breathlessly.

"Can we get that out without destroying the machines?" he wondered. Chanson shrugged.

"I can." Jones walked around to them and stared into the music box's inner workings. He made his body passable and walked into the machine, scaring off more of the shark men who remained. He ducked down and put his face into the machine, leaving only his hindquartes protruding.

"That's real nice, Jones," Chanson groaned and lit a cigarette.

When he emerged, he held the wooden carved box in his hand. "He let me do it. I didn't think he would," he said. They closed the music box back up and placed the smalled, four-inch wide box on top of it. "What's it say, Diego?"

The young archaeologist studied the runes. "I am your friend. Together we… Together we…" Diego turned to Robin with a sheepish look. "I don't know this one."

She approached him and read the same passage. "Together we sing. Then it repeats all over this box. I think there might be something inside it." Carefully, Diego lifted the seamless top off the box, revealing a small, black cube inside. Robin held a hand to her chest. "I don't believe it…" she whispered.

"What is it, Robin?" Smoker asked.

"Well, the only character on this object is for 'friend'," she said, pointing with a trembling hand as Diego removed the cube from its box. "And I'd recognize that object in any size, anywhere. It's a miniature Poneglyph."

Diego went to set the cube down on top of the box but thought better of it. He handed it to Chanson. "And if this one says 'friend'…?" he said quietly. "Jones, can you retrieve the other three for us?"

"You bet." He went to work and handed the cube he extracted from each to its respective owner. Bolly seemed bewildered and actually shook the cube and held it to his ear wondering what it could be. Vane stood very still and wore an expression of worry. "It's ok, man," Jones said, retrieving his own cube.

"This is really something else, isn't it?" Vane said quietly.

"Yes, my boy, it is," Bolly said, becoming lucid once again.

Diego inspected the other Poneglyphs and their boxes. "This is my bravery, Together we are strong." He said to Vane. "This is my wisdom, together we know all," he said to Bolly. To Jones he said "this is my love. Together we are one."

Before anyone could ask what to do next, Bolly stepped close to Vane and touched the Wisdom cube to the Bravery one. Chanson touched the Friendship one to that and Jones touched the Love Poneglyph to hers. Behind them, a rather dirty and disheveled Angus McRae and a sandy and bruised Kihi arrived but didn't say a word, silenced by the tension in the air. Everyone held their breath.

A thick, bright white beam of light shot straight up from the cubes as they suddenly split open. The four holding the cubes remained where they were but everyone else took at least one step back and cried out in alarm. Bolly was the first to speak as his eyes adjusted to the light, so much brighter than the sun that made the beach and the sky and the ocean seem as night.

"Vincent…" the old man whispered.

"Hello, Albert," the figure in the light answered as he became opaque. "It's been a long time." Everyone was able to see the young man in the beam of sparkling light that shot up from the four Poneglyph. He wore loose pants and a white shirt open and tied down with a sash around his waist. His face looked very much like Jones' and a bit like Luffy's as well. Rather than a devious smile like Jones' or a cock-sure grin like Luffy's Vincent's smile was Buddha-like, peaceful and kind. Bolly wept openly and appeared to want to speak but was at a loss for words. The apparition smiled and turned to the others. "Jones, Vane, Chanson and you Chisa, thank you for helping me."

The cigarette fell from Chanson's fingers as she mechanically lifted it to her mouth. "Vincento?" she asked in a broken voice.

He nodded slowly. "You must thank Harmony for me, and Vane you must thank Ace for taking care of me so well."

With tears in her eyes Vaughn Williams collapsed as her ability reached its limit and her age caught up with her. McRae caught her as she fell without taking his eyes from Vincent. "It's really you?" McRae asked. "When you died, the Captain really preserved your life?!"

The apparition shook his head. "He tried…"

Robin's eyes went wide with understanding. "Friendship, Courage, Wisdom and Love – the four attributes of the Shikon, the ancient concept of the four-chambered heart…" she said as if in a dream.

Diego gasped. "Amazing…"

Robin put her hands on her son's shoulders from behind. "Somehow Roger was able to use these four Poneglyph to seal away the four parts of his son's soul for safe keeping so he wouldn't pass on!"

"Correct, Madame," Vincent said, nodding to her. "My soul was persevered but my life is long over. He meant well, my father did, but it's time I said goodbye."

Izuru, the only shark left on the beach stood her ground trembling from head to toe. "_You_ were what was so im-p-portant to Roger? B-but what about the t-treasure?!" she stammered. "Bolly-sama, you said that when the four came together we'd receive the greatest treasure in the world!"

Vincent cocked his head to the side and said scoldingly, "Albert, what have you been telling these folks?"

Before Bolly could find his voice to answer, Jones shouted, "it's true!" He grinned like a lunatic. "The treasure is all around us!"

Vincent smiled down on his grand-nephew. "Yes it is, Jones."

Several voices in the crowd gasped and a collective whisper floated on the air. _"This is the treasure. It's right here. All this time. Right under our noses!" _Bolly nodded and mopped his tears. The old man drew Chisa into the group of four and handed her his Poneglyph. "Are you ready, Albert?" Vincent asked, holding out his hand.

Bolly took a deep breath. "I've been ready for some time now, Vincent."

The apparition took his hand and his spirit self slipped out of his body which fell to the sand. Izuru let out a scream but dared not go any closer. Albert appeared before them young again, his green beard seemed to lilt in the spectral breeze coming from the Poneglyphs. "Thank you, everyone," Vincent said, raising his hand. "For getting me back in One Piece."

The light intensified and many people had to shield their eyes, but they all saw the two spirits rise up from the little black boxes and shoot into the sky. The beam faded slowly, showering them all with fairy sparks. For nearly a minute the beach was silent save the soft sobs coming from Vaughn Williams and the sharkwoman, Izuru.

"Bolly-sama…" the women whispered.

Chason blinked a few times and realized her face was wet. She dropped the now empty Poneglyph on the sand and put her hands over her face. When Sakura's arms closed around her shoulders she turned and fell against his chest, sobbing. "I don't… know what's… wrong with me!" she cried. "I'm not _sad_ so why am I crying?"

"It's ok," he whispered, tears in his eyes as well.

Jones hugged his sister who was in a similar state then passed her to Iisopp who jogged in instinctively toward them and wrapped his arms around her. Jones looked around and found that everyone was either being hugged, giving a hug or sitting very close together, and hardly an eye was dry. Taka leaned against her father and pouted in a very little-girl way. Robin hugged her son who sobbed quietly and pretended to be strong. Her hand clutched her husband's tightly. "Wow," Jones whispered as he watched his friends and family recover. His cousin stood very still and stared at the black box in his hands. Jones glared at his and knew that it was empty. He dropped it onto the sand and stood in front of Vane. "You ok?"

Vane took a deep breath. "I don't think so." He pursed his lips, trying like hell to keep his own tears at bay. "I think I need to go home."

"Ii-chan, Nii-chan…" his sister said weakly as she lifted her head from Iisopp's chest. "I wanna go home, too."

Jones nodded and wiped his own tears. "Oh yeah, right. I'm the Captain." He wanted to say something uplifting, something courageous and inspirational as he felt should. "Ok, everyone. Let's go home."

_To be concluded!!_


	35. Epilogue  Back Together Again

**Not Pirates, Treasure Hunters**

**Part 4 of 4 in a saga**

A One Piece Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

**Chapter 35 – Epilogue - Back Together Again**

In a small, stucco house on the coastal town of Guraba, the woman formerly known as Miss Golden Week spun a pencil between her fingers and stared out the open window. She had a blank sketchbook in her lap. The breeze played with some stray brunette hairs that had come free of her braid. Her husband, a former conscripted pirate – now Marine captain handed her a cup of tea. "I know he's with Madame, but still…" she said as if answering a question he hadn't actually vocalized.

"Alice," he said, sitting down on the widow seat next to her. "I'm just as worried as you are."

Alice turned and faced him, her usually stoic look cracked and she bawled into his chest. "Oh, Coby I miss Diego so much!!"

Both of them jumped several feet in the air as the front door to their left slammed open. Diego stood in the doorframe panting. "Mom, Dad, you _must_ come check this out!" he cried gleefully, pushing his glasses back into place.

**.x.**

In the Escargot d'Or restaurant on Largo Atoll business was bustling. All tables were full at six o'clock, reservations were booked and the wait-list was at least two hours long. In the kitchen knives flew as the staff prepared the dishes ordered. "If I see _one_ burnt scallop I'll burn your ass!" Sanji growled at a nearby sous-chef as he flipped a sauté pan full of calamari and butter and garlic and artfully plated it and with his free hand tossed a perfect amount of parsley for garnish and color. He pirouetted around the staff and ducked out of the kitchen, leaving his gruff chef-de-cuisine personality behind him. His eyes were full of stars as he glided into the dining room. The tables he passed whispered as the celebrity chef went by. He came to a stop at the furthest table from the door around which were seated the King and Queen of Arabasta Kohza and Vivi, their daughter the Princess Luffy-Kleo and Sanji's wife, the renowned singer Harmony Sairen. "Calamar" Sanji said with a low bow and rested the large platter full of squid before them.

"Chanson!" Harmony cried, dropping her fork.

"Ah, I know," Sanji wailed. "I only wish my precious Chan-chan could be here…"

"Can't eat just now, pops." Chanson smirked at him as he spun around and fell to pieces over her. "Alright, alright!" she cried, laughing at his display. "Let me go tell the others I'll be a little late, ok?"

Getting a hold of himself, Sanji asked "the others?"

**.x.**

A student in a white gi and bare feet swept the long wooden deck of his dojo. He was perhaps ten years old and didn't seem very happy to have been assigned to sweeping. His other fellow students put away practice equipment and tidied the yard to his right. He was too busy grumbling to himself to notice his dojo had a visitor until the gentleman cleared his throat.

"Excuse me," a deep, almost god-like voice made the student jump. "Is this the Tashiro Dojo?"

"Y-yeah…" he began then noted the markings on his jacket. "Yes sir!" he cried.

Smoker sighed almost imperceptibly and smoke fumed out of his mouth. "Can you tell me where your sensei is?" he asked, trying to sound patient but failing. He hated waiting and this particular wait was killing him.

"Sure! I mean, yes sir!" the boy cried, dropped his broom and ran off into the dojo. Smoker was obliged to wait. His cigars were almost down to their last and he debated lighting another set. He sat down on the deck and looked out at the yard. The other young students had stopped to stare at the Vice Admiral of the Marine but when he shot them a look they scrambled to resume their task.

The sound of footsteps scrambling toward him and something , perhaps a clutch of wooden swords clattering to the ground, told him she was coming. Slowly, he rose and turned to greet her.

Tashigi did not look at all as he remembered her. Her hair was long, tied back at her shoulders. She wore a yukata with a sky-blue and white morning glory pattern, hastily thrown on without and underdress and trailing behind her, clutched closed with her hands. Her feet were bare. "Smoker Junshou!" she cried as their eyes met.

Taking her in he casually corrected her. "Vice Admiral these days… did I interrupt something?"

She boggled at him and it took a moment for her to process that she had been asked a question. "What? Oh, my… Oh!" she shouted and clutched the yukata closer. "I was just getting ready… big festival in town… summer, thing. With the… and the students are getting ready… for the… hehhhh!" Tashigi's face turned bright red as she panicked and struggled to explain herself. "But… you're here! And… I'm not in trouble, am I?"

"Calm yourself Tashigi." Smoker drawled. "Get dressed and we'll talk."

When she emerged her students, some fifty young people of various ages had gathered and were giving the Vice Admiral the evil eye, trying to figure out what such a high-ranking Marine was here for. She sent them ahead to the festival without her and sat down on the deck next to her former superior. "I'm not in trouble," she repeated much more calmly. "Am I?" She stared at the ground in front of her.

"Of course not."

"Just making a social call, then?" she asked nervously.

"Taka sent me."

Tashigi gripped the edge of the deck and turned to face him. "Is she alright?"

"Fine. She'll be home soon. Just taking a trip with her father."

She blinked at him in shock. "They're together?"

Smoker nodded and lit a pair of cigars. Tashigi breathed a sigh of relief. "I haven't seen him in years. Is he well?"

"I guess. He's bald."

She couldn't help but laugh. "That's nice for him. He deserves at least that much."

"You miss him?"

She looked up at the sky. "Sometimes. I miss Taka much more. I can't wait till she comes home. But I'm glad she didn't get herself killed trying to fight him," Tashigi laughed again. "What a relief!" The perpetually falling leaves of Palast floated from the trees around the dojo gently to the ground. "Would you like to join us at the festival?" she asked, getting up and smoothing her hands over her yukata. "I know it must seem rude not to stay here and entertain you, but the dojo is marching in the parade."

Smoker shrugged and got up. Tashigi smiled as the light breeze brought his smoke toward her. "Sometimes when I'm in town and someone's got a cigar I turn around looking for you," she said.

He breathed a sigh. "I'm married," he said.

Her eyes dipped down to the ring on his finger and the placid expression remained on her face. "I saw." She started walking down the lane toward town on wooden shoes, clutching a small bag and looking very much unlike the child he watched disappear into the night, chasing her own destiny almost twenty years before. "I'm just glad you didn't forget me, Smoker-san."

The corner of his mouth turned up around the cigars and he followed her to festival.

**.x.**

"I changed my mind. I can't do this."

Taka scowled down at Edward D. Vane and folded her arms. "Look. It's not that hard. If I could confront my father after not seeing him for over a dozen years you can certainly go say 'hi' to yours after _four_. Zoro pretended to be asleep but listened in from his spot a few feet away with his head propped against the mast.

"This is hardly the same..."

Jones munched on an apple and Iisopp cleaned his guns on the deck to his left. "I dunno what you're so afraid of," he said as he ran a rod with a cloth on the end of it down the inside of the barrel. "I remember Ace and Vivace being pretty cool."

"_I ran away_," Vane explained using his arms for emphasis. "They won't want to see me."

Jones tossed his apple core over the side and clapped his cousin on the arm. "Did you learn anything from this adventure? They're your parents. They want to see you. They may yell at you, but look at you!" he cried stepping back. "You're a totally impressive pirate! They'll be mad proud of you!"

"He's right, brotha." Iisopp agreed. He nodded toward the stern. "So that's Fortuna?" On the horizon the small island was taking shape. It was getting dark and already street lights twinkled along the shoreline.

"Yep," Vane said. "Sure is." He took a deep breath. "Alright. Wish me luck."

**.x.**

Chopper pushed the door to his apartments open, hung his white coat on a hook in the entryway and called 'tadaima' as he entered. Olga's voice called from the kitchen that she was just putting the tea on but could he come in quickly? A bit alarmed at this strange request, Chopper changed into his large, human form and hurried in. "What is it, Olga? Are you ok?!"

She held her hand over her mouth to surpress laughter and pointed at the young man sitting at the table.

"Sakura!!" Chopper cried and the two men hugged tightly. "So! Did you go to Arabasta? Did you see Sea Kings and pirates? Did you get in any trouble?!"

The young doctor clapped his hands on his adopted father's shoulders and looked him in the eye very seriously. Chopper thought his heart was going to leap out of his chest any moment with worry about what Sakura would tell him. "Dad," he said gravely.

"Y-yes, Son?"

"I finally met Chanson."

Olga sipped her tea and rolled her eyes as Chopper shouted at Sakura for scaring him and Sakura laughed as he defended himself.

**.x.**

The sun was setting and pouring golden light through the third-story windows in the mansion Usopp shared with his wife. He entered the drawing room wearing a shirt and coveralls covered with paint. He put a box full of paints and brushes down against the wall next to other art supplies that were kept neatly in a bookshelf there and propped an easel up next to that. One of their servants entered shortly after him. "Did you have a successful day, Usopp-san?" Merry asked, placing a well-timed tray of tea and snacks on a table.

"Oh, it was ok," he said with a heavy sigh. "The light was great. The clouds were perfect." He held a thumb up as if judging the distance before painting. "But my heart is just not in it." He flopped down into an abused wingback chair which was also covered in paint-stains for just such an occasion.

Both men looked to the door as Ferris opened it for Kaya. She thanked him and went to her husband who craned his neck to accept her kiss. "Did you have a good day?" she asked him and he repeated the speech he gave Merry, only with more melancholy. Merry's husband and fellow manservant Ferris fussed with the tea while Merry went to the spyglass they had trained on the harbor. He bent to peer into the eyepiece and gasped. "Ferris!" he shouted.

"What is it, Merry?!" Ferris called back, alarmed.

"No! _Thee_ _Ferris_!" he shouted again, pointing to the window. "The boys have returned!"

**.x.**

The sun smiled down on the Fuchsia Mikan Orchard one late-summer afternoon. Its proprietors were hard at work managing their little farm. Luffy clipped dead limbs with an expert hand and moved quickly and rhythmically from tree to tree. He wore shorts, sandals and a red tee-shirt with the sleeves cut off that bore the letters FMO in large athletic-style font on the front. A black eye-patch covered his right eye and a ragged three-day growth of beard covered his chin. As he worked he sang a little song.

_Tetsu no kabe, namida no ame_

_Manatsu no sutoreito_

_Buttobase! Waraitobase!_

_Manatsu no sutoreito_

_Wahaha! Warikoso wa_

_Wahaha! Kono karada no..._

_Wahaha! Souridaijin_

_Yuku mo tomaru mo_

_Natsu ga owate mo, manatsu wa sono mama!_

_Iron walls and tears of rain_

_The midsummer fastball_

_Kick it away, just laugh it away_

_The midsummer fastball_

_Wahaha i'm just a…_

_Wahaha and my body, too…_

_Wahaha the prime minister_

_Should I stay or should I go?_

_Even if the summer's gone, the midsummer is here to stay!_

_- Koumoto Hiroto, 2006_

His wife's voice from somewhere nearby interrupted his singing. "Ah! Is it lunchtime already?!" he called back and dropped down gracefully from the tree's branches.

"No, dipstick, it's only ten."

He grinned and gave a giggling laugh. "Yeah, I know. Doesn't hurt to ask, though!"

Usually Nami would lovingly throw something at his head or make some sort of snide comment then give him kiss, but she stood where she was, holding a basket of clippings. She wore work gloves on her hands and a worn, camouflage skirt with a patch on the bottom left side. Like Luffy, she also wore an FMO shirt; hers was a tank-top in pale blue with dark orange silk-screened letters that were a little rough around the edges.

Luffy stood in front of her and blinked a few times before taking the basket from her and putting it on the ground. She seemed to be roused from a daydream by this action and was surprised when he put his arms around her and hugged her tightly. "I miss them, too," he said simply and she returned the hug.

"This sucks," she said sadly. "I mean, it wasn't the same when we went out. We didn't have our parents left at home to worry about us!"

"I don't think my parents would have worried," Luffy mumbled with his chin resting in her shoulder.

"_You're_ worried."

"I'm not my parents."

Nami rolled her eyes, giving up on an argument she knew she couldn't win with silly answers like his. She let out a loud sigh. "This sucks! It's like I can hear Jojo calling me!"

"Ah, that's because you _can_," Luffy said, pointing past her, with his head still planted between her neck and shoulder.

"What?!" She cried and nearly flipped him over her as she turned to see. Sure enough, Jones was barreling up the dirt road toward the house calling out 'oi!' to his parents as he ran.

Luffy stepped in front of Nami and caught his son like a pro catching a fastball as he ran up to them. "Dad! Mom! Come quick!" he shouted breathlessly with a huge grin on his face.

"Blue D. Jones where is your sister?!" Nami shouted back.

"Party's," he said between gasping breaths. "With the treasure!"

"Treasure?!" Nami's eyes turned to Berrie signs and she clasped her hands together, forgetting her anger and worry instantly.

"What is it what is it?!" Luffy asked dancing from one foot to the other.

"Secret. Too big to carry back here. Come on!"

"Too… big…" Nami nearly fainted. "There's my good boy!"

Jones grabbed their hands and started to drag them down the road toward town.

**.x.**

As they approached Party's Bar, Jones turned and backpedaled so he could face his parents. "Ok," he said very seriously. "I want you to close your eyes and wait till I say so before you open them. Dad, that means you, too."

"Drat," Luffy spat.

"Oh, the anticipation is killing me!" Nami cried. They both did as they were told, twitching with excitement as Jones lead them up the front steps and opened the door.

"Ok," he said, his voice wavering with excitement. "Now!"

Nami and Luffy opened their eyes and a crowd of people who had been hiding, totally silent inside the bar all cried 'surprise!'. The pair stood stock still for a moment, taking in the scene before them. Usopp, Kaya, Iisopp, Chisa, Chopper, Sakura, Ace, Vivace, Vane, Zoro, Taka, Diego, Vivi, Kleo, Sanji, Harmony and Chanson all smiled back at them. Nami was the first to scream. She put her hand over her mouth and burst into tears. "Everyone!!!" she shouted and ran toward them. Vivi and Chopper were the first to tackle her.

Luffy remained standing very still, staring at the faces. "Everyone…" he whispered. He looked to his son who was shocked to see tears in his eyes. "Jojo. This is the greatest treasure, ever."

"I know, dad. I know."

Jones watched his father morph into the over-excited lunatic he knew him to be and try to hug everyone in the bar at the same time with his Akuma no Mi ability.

"Oh, dad, check this out!" he called, wiping a tear from his eye and running right through the group with is own ability. Nami screamed at him that that wasn't something to be excited about and Luffy praised him yet again.

The party didn't show any signs of letting up even five hours later after darkness had fallen. Finally, they had all caught each other up on what they were doing with their lives and Luffy started begging the children to tell him the story of their adventure.

'_It's time to put the last piece in place,'_ Jones thought. _'Then they'll all be happy. Then dad will have nothing to regret anymore.' _He jumped up and jogged over to Zoro. "I think we can't put this off any longer, Roronoa-san," he advised. Zoro nodded and slipped into the back room. When he returned the room quieted and all eyes fell on him and a woman standing behind him with her head bowed and a large hat hiding her face. She wore a light-weight, white cotton dress and reached her hand out toward Diego who leapt up and grasped it for support.

"Luffy, Nami. We have another surprise for you. She didn't want to come but we made her," Zoro said with a nod toward Sanji and Harmony who must have been helpful toward that end. "She has this fool idea that you'll be mad at her…"

Zoro stepped aside and whispered to her something like 'it's ok, gimme the hat,' and pulled it away from her. Nami gasped. "Robin…" she said breathlessly.

"Robin?" Luffy repeated, standing up and staring intently at her.

Nico Robin, with her ghostly white hair blushed crimson and tried not to meet their eyes. "I'm so sorry," she said. "I…"

"Idiot!" Luffy cried, scaring the crowd. His face had that serious look that was hard to read even for his closest of friends. "Don't be sorry for being alive!"

"Robin!!" Nami shouted and ran to her, her tears flowing afresh. "Oh, we always hoped you had found a way to escape!"

"You-you're not angry with me?" Robin asked, startled.

Luffy laughed. "I thought you were smart, Robin! That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!" He too had tears running down his face.

Nami felt Chisa tug her tank-top and pulled her into the embrace too. "This is the greatest treasure in the world, having everyone back together like this!"

Chisa smiled at her brother and gave him a thumbs up which he returned as he received copious noogies from his father. Then he released Jones and practically hugged the life out of Robin. "Ok! Can we hear the story now?!" he shouted.

Robin wiped her tears. "I think we should tell it in stages and everyone should take a turn."

"Ooh! Me first!" Jones crowed and when everyone was seated and had a fresh drink in hand the storytelling began. "It all started when Iisopp turned 17 finally and we headed out on the Ferris for Roguetown with a bunch a copies of the True History of the Mugiwara Kaizokudan…"

**END**

---

**Author's Notes:**

Man, I hate ending things. Hello, everyone! Thanks for reading! Here's some notes about what I was thinking when I was writing this monster...

The first thing I realized too late when I got into writing this saga was that I skewed the timeline funny. During "We Need A Musician!!" (WNAM), which was written before Water 7 was released in the manga, I shifted the time between Skypeia and Water 7 to about 4 years longer in order to age Harmony so she wouldn't be total Jail Bait in "The Pirate King Is Dead" (PKID) which was really really dumb and I should go back and skew instead the Sanji gaiden "Night and Day" to take place years later… Or something.

BUT that also made Sakura's age much older which I'd need to fix, too. If he was born AFTER the Strawhats liberated Drum Island he'd only be like 1 or 2 tops when PKID took place which doesn't work well for dialog on his part. I could either shift Chopper's story later which doesn't really work for the flow of PKID of I could have it that Sakura was renamed from his original name at age 4 or 5 or something… which would be weird, but might work better. Feh. What's a few plotholes, right:/

I also started writing the first part of the story LONG before Oda-sensei revealed anything about Luffy's family, about Shanks and Newgate and Roger etc. so the past in my saga is waaaay off. Which is fine. If it had been close that would have been scary, right?

The first idea I had for this fic was a total MS about Shanks that I never (thank god) wrote. BUT I took the kernel of the idea – a song by Richard Thompson – and kept rolling it between my fingers for a while and breaking little pieces off into the story that would become this last part of the saga – Treasure Hunters (TH). The song is called "1952 Vincent Black Lightning" The motorcycle in the song became the whiskey still that Jones stole from McRae at the beginning of TH. While I was forming that idea, I was also writing WNAM and Harmony's music box became 'Vincento' after the "Vincent Machine" in the song. Her father became Richard in homage to Mr. Thompson.

An excerpt from the song which can be found on Mr. Thompson's website:

"Come down, come down, Red Molly" called Sergeant McRae  
"For they've taken young James Adie for armed robbery."…

So you can see that the names are all over the place. James Aide, Angus McRae, Red Molly, Vaughn Williams and Al Bolly were all named for people in Richard Thompson songs.

I'm constantly surprised that Taka is so popular! I guess I did spend a long time developing her, she was one of the first of the children characters I worked on (Diego was last) so I guess I put a lot into her that had appeal –and the fact that her dad is also quite popular doesn't hurt I suppose.

My personal favorite of the characters I made is Chanson which might surprise some. I guess she's nothing like me, being a pop idol and all, but she smokes and has a bad attitude so there's that part of me, I guess, hehehe.

The character I wish I spent more time on is Iisopp. He has a lot of potential but he got sort of washed underneath when all the others started joining. Maybe if he hadn't been the 'buddy' of the main character he'd have shined brighter. I tried hard to pump him up toward the end and showcase his incredible hidden firepower. Like his grandfather, Iisopp uses real guns and I advanced them to early 20th century standards because I figured their firearm tech would advance a little from 17th century-style blunder and harquebus you see in One Piece in the 20 years between PKID and TH.

Originally, there was no Chisa and Kleo instead was going to sail with them. Then I decided that I wanted one child each for each of the (then 7) Strawhats and having Kleo too would have been a lot of characters. Vane sort of didn't count because he didn't go on the adventure with them. Vane is named for a real pirate of the same name, BTW.

Originally, I did plan to kill off Nico Robin. But then I fell in love with her and just couldn't bear it. Also, with the things I had planned for TH, I thought it would be useful to have her around to give a little much-needed exposition about the weird subject of the Vincent Machines. The idea to have Diego and Robin paired with Smoker came MUCH later in the development of the story.

Yes, the 'shikon' at the end there comes from Inuyasha, but more importantly, it's a Shinto belief that the soul is made of four parts. Fairly early on when I was deciding how many of the Vincent Machines there would be I thought that if his soul were inside them, the Shikon would be a great way to explain why or how it was so. Then I realized I needed four boxes and I barely had three that made sense! Bolly's was the last one I came up with and only after thinking about the island he would live on and how maybe the box could do something essential for him did the idea for a water purifier come to mind.

In case you missed something, the stories in this saga are:

1) A Pirate is A Pirate

2) A Pirate's Life For Me! We Need A Musician!!

3) The Pirate King Is Dead – Long Live The Pirate King

- Night and Day – the Sanji gaiden

- Like A Rolling Stone – the Robin gaiden

4) Not Pirates – Treasure Hunters

That's almost 120,000 words. If you read all that, well done and THANK YOU ALL. I enjoy writing very much but your enjoyment of what I have written makes that feeling even better!

For more tidbits, fanart and character profiles please see my website at aksarah dot com slash onepiece.


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